Gothic Architecture. September 19 Three Witnesses of Gothic. Abbot Suger of Saint-Denis Gervase of Canterbury Villard de Honnecourt

Transcription

1 Gothic Architecture September 19 Three Witnesses of Gothic Abbot Suger of Saint-Denis Gervase of Canterbury Villard de Honnecourt

2 Notes on readings: Frankl, The Gothic, on the invention of the concept, On the 19th-century re-invention, On the three witnesses, 1-48 Gombrich, Norm and Form, Rowland, Culture, esp. 98 Bergdoll, Foundations, 1-30 Grant, Abbot Suger, The Patron, Panofsky, Abbot Suger, 1-37

3 Jackson Lears, No Place of Grace, The Morning of Belief, Medieval Mentalities, , see also treatment of Henry Adams Dynamo and the Virgin, 277ff), R. A. Cram and C. E. Norton

4 Sugerius, Abbot of Saint-Denis, born 1081 and abbot of Saint-Denis From a petty seigneurial family, an oblate at Saint- Denis, where Louis VI was educated.

5 Saint-Denis Monastery founded by King Dagobert in honor of Saint-Denis and his legendary companions, Rusticus and Eleutherius. Had been a "royal" abbey for many years housing the tombs of kings. Charles the Bald and Hugh Capet had been titular abbots. In a state of "decline" in the mid-twelfth century. The need to "reform." Church reform involved stronger contacts with a centralized Papacy.

6 Suger as monastic administrator. This was the age of "new administration"--highly centralized beaurocracy. Normandy and England led the way. Suger had been praepositus at Berneval-le-Grand in Normandy. Record keeping. Accounts. Military action at Toury-en-Beauce. Increased annual revenue from 20 to 80 pounds a year. Negotiated the revenues from the annual Lendit fair.

7 Need to re-form monastic properties. "In the docile age of my youth I used to thumb the documents of our possessions... and consult the charts of our immunities in view of the dishonesty of many calumniators." Suger pushed claims for repossession. Reestablishment of direct control over possessions. Went from reorganization of domaines to reorganization of abbey itself. Power of Cistercian ideals and the role of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux. Moderation in reform.

8 Suger as statesman Worked for improved relations between the Crown of France and the Holy See--special missions to Rome. Regent for Louis VII during Crusade. Able to neutralize power of most dangerous external enemy, German emperor Henry V. Critical role in the frustration of the invasion attempted by Henry V, Suger rallied the king's vassals in the "call of France." Louis VI accepted the "Oriflamme" (banner of Vexin) from the hands of Suger. Opposed power of king's enemies the "robber barons" Thomas de Marle etc.

9 The myths associated with Abbot Suger: a) "The Father of the Fatherland" (Willelmus, after return of Louis VII from Crusade) b) The inventor of Gothic: "It was as if a president of the United States were to have had the White House rebuilt by Frank Lloyd Wright." (Panofsky)

10 The words of Suger He was an indefatigable talker: humanus satis et jocundus. Loved to tell stories. Steeped in readings of the Latin classics as well as the Scriptures and the Fathers. Could recite from Horace. Would keep his monks up until midnight with stories of French kings. He talked about the proposed new work with the brothers of his community "whose hearts burned for Jesus while he talked with them by the way. He could write boldly and brilliantly "almost as fast as he could speak."

11 Balance between a) Convention b) Observation The writings of Suger: Ordinationes 1140/41 Libellus Alter de Consecratione Ecclesiae Sancti Dionysii 1144 Liber de Rebus Administratione Sua Gestis begun as a result of a meeting of the general chapter, March Written between 1144 and 1148

12 Reconstruction of the church Began with the monastic buildings. Then repaired and repainted the nave, thought to have been built by Dagobert The western frontispiece Begun c 1132, finished and consecrated June 1140 The choir Begun July 1140 and consecrated June

13 Need to accommodate and propagate pilgrimage Relics of the Passion and of the Apostles of France. The myth of Saint Denis involved conflation of three personages: 1. Denis, evangelist 2. Dionysius the Areopagite 3. Dionysius the pseudo-areopagite (c. 500), author or The Celestial Hierarchy Text had been sent by Michael the Stammerer to Louis the Pious who deposited it at Saint-Denis.

14 Words and architecture. Seven Observations 1) Very little ekphrasis or literal description of the formal properties of the building. On the western frontispiece:...we exerted ourselves incessantly with the enlargement of the body of the church as well as with the trebling of the entrance and the doors, and with the erection of high and noble towers (Adm).

15 On the new choir: [Divine will] allowed the whole magnificent building to be completed in three years and three months, from the crypt below to the summit of the vaults above, elaborated with the variety of so many arches and columns including even the consumation of the roof."

16 "equalization" of the new choir with the old nave-- except for that elegant and praiseworthy extension in [the form of] a circular string of chapels by virtue of which the whole [church] would shine with the wonderful and uninterrupted light of most luminous windows, pervading the interior beauty (Cons.).

17 2) Much on the performance of the building. Suger's description of the old church engorged with too many human beings. His interest in the liturgy of consecration. The tripartite procession that formed for the dedication of the upstairs chapels of Saint Romanus/ Michael and the Angels. The ceremony for the laying of the foundation of the new choir. The detailed account of the consecration of the new choir and the translation of the relics. Extensive lists of bishops, abbots and the king himself. Absent--the bishop of Paris

18 3) The allegorical significance of elements of the church. The columns as Apostles. The midst of the edifice, however, was suddenly raised aloft by twelve columns representing the number of the Twelve Apostles and by as many columns in the side aisles signifying the number of the [minor] Prophets. Jesus Christ as the cornerstone

19 4) The role of the inscriptions that were intended to lend eloquence to the building: The verse on the west door: Portarum quisquis attollere Whoever you are, if you seek to Queris honorem extoll the glory of these doors Aurum nec sumptus, operis Marvel not at the gold and the mirare laborem expense but at the craftsmanship of the work Nobile claret opus, sed opus Bright is the noble work, but, quod nobile claret being noblybright, the work Clarificet mentes, ut eant per vera Should brighten the minds so that they may travel, through the true lights

20 Ad verum lumen, ubi Christus To the true light where Christ is the true janua vera. door Quale sit intus in his determinat aurea porta: In what manner it might be inherent in this world, the golden door defines Mens hebes ad verum per materialia surgit The dull mind rises to truth through that which is material Et demersa prius hac visa luce resurgit And, in seeing this light, is resurrected from its former submersion

21 The inscription at the entrance to the new choir: Pars nova posterior dum Once the new part is jungitur anteriori joined to the earlier part Aula micat medio clarificata suo The church shines with its middle part brightened Claret enim claris quodfor bright is that which is clare concopulator brightly coupled with the bright Et quod perfundit lux nova, claret opus nobile And bright is the noble edifice that is pervaded by the new light

22 e) Building as process; building as a penitential act: inscription on west tympanum: Receive, O stern Judge, the prayers of your Suger; Grant that I may be mercifully numbered among your own sheep.

23 5) Building miracles Through a gift of God a new quarry, yielding very strong stone, was discovered such as in quality and quantity had never been found in these regions (Cons.) Miracle of a new quarry near Pontoise for the extaction of columns Miracle of extraction of a heavy column by a little group of pious helpers. The finding of the beams for the roof

24 6) The synchronic experience. "The recollection of the past is the promise of the future." Suger's awareness of Romanitas; his ability to transform Antique forms. This also applies to liturgical objects, which were very often antique objects that had been transformed (the altarpiece of Charles the Bald etc). Reflection on the cross of Saint Eloi and other precious objects:

25 When--out of my delight in the beauty of the house of God--the loveliness of the many-colored stones has called me away from external cares, and worthy meditation has induced me to reflect, transferring that which is material to that which is immaterial, on the diversity of the sacred virtues: then it seems to me that I see myself dwelling, as it were, in some strange region of the universe which neither exists entirely in the slime of the earth nor entirely in the purity of heaven and that, by the grace of God, I can be transported from this inferior to that higher world in an anagogical manner.

26 7) The elevation of the choir (retro-choir). A lantern for the shrine of the Apostles. The question of the new technology (flying buttresses). when the work on the new addition with its capitals and upper arches was being carried forward to the peak of its height, but the main arches--vaulted independently- -were not yet held together by the bulk of the severies, there suddenly arose a terrible and almost unbearable storm with an obfuscation of clouds, an inundation of rain, and a most violent rush of wind.

27 ... when the venerable bishop of Chartres, Geoffroy, was solemnly celebrating at the main altar a conventual Mass for the former's soul, such a force of contrary gales hurled itself against the aforesaid arches, not supported by any scaffolding nor resting on any props, that they threatened baneful ruin at any moment, miserably trembling and, as it were, swaying hither and thither. The Bishop, alarmed by the strong vibration of these [arches] and the roofing, frequently extending his blessing hand in the direction of that part and urgently held out toward it, while making the sign of the cross, the arm of the aged St Simeon, so that he escaped disaster...

28 Thus, the tempest while it brought calamitous ruin in many places to buildings thought to be firm, was unable to damage these isolated and newly made arches, tottering in mid-air, because it was repulsed by the power of God.

29 End..on to Second Witness

30 Nineteenth-century reinvention of Gothic. 1. Evolution/morphology 2. Rationalism 3. Modernism/anti-modernism 4. Nationalism 5. Catholic Revival 6. Restoration