Notre Dame Cathedral

Each face, each stone of this venerable monument is not only a page of the history of the country, but also of the history of knowledge and art . . . Time is the architect, the people are the builder (Hugo 162, 164).

From this perspective, the bold monumentality of the twelfthcentury project reflects the reassertion of royal power under Louis VI and Louis VII; the forceful reign of Philip Augustus finds its architectural expression in the triumphant stability of the west facade; the spiritual charisma of Louis IX resonates in the elegance of the transepts. Images of these monarchs appear like seals in the portals to authenticate the cathedral as an official act (Davis 34).

The architecture of the cathedral includes a number of unique elements in Gothic architecture as well as being characteristic of Gothic cathedral architecture in other ways. Certain key elements--the bishop's throne, places for clergy (also known as the "choir"), and an altar--reflected the fact that all cathedrals had the same religious function (MacDonald and James 8). Similarly, the ornamentation that is so common in Gothic architecture is evident in this work and conveys a variety of religious ideas and religious stories and meanings that connect the structure to its purpose and that also communicates with the external observer.

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of the north rose window is predominantly blue, the color of the northern sky, of the heavens, and of the mantle of the Virgin, which she throws protectively around all those devoted to her as the queen of Heaven (De La Croix, Tansey, and Kirkpatrick 398). The use of metal made the construction of this and windows like it possible. Metal was in use in this way from the thirteenth century on. In the case of the rose windows in Notre Dame, this material had to hold glass in a space 42 feet across (Icher 128). PORTALS Vyverberg notes that during the late medieval period, sculpture was primarily an expression of religious feeling and was viewed as an accessory to Christian piety. It generally remained in close physical and aesthetic association with an architectural setting: Increasingly, however, it became emancipated, at least in spirit, from the walls and columns of the churches and began to be treated as separate and individual works of art. In the process, these works ceased to function as part of a general panorama and began to receive more detailed treatment (Vyverberg 65). Altarpieces and altar figures were now given more attention than the works that formed their background. Individual pieces were more in demand
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Approximate Word count = 3006
Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page)

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