Andreea Popescu*

MEDIEVAL CATHEDRALS. SYMBOL AND ARCHITECTURE

RÉSUMÉ

a cathédrale médiévale a la fonction d’un récipient de l’esprit divin, d’un messager de la parole deDieu. Dans sa qualité de sanctuaire abritant des reliques saintes, la cathédrale est du point de

vue symbolique une carte de la rédemption. Le croyant commence un pèlerinage spirituel qui a commepoint de départ le portail occidental du Dernier Jugement et il arrive à l’autel entouré de vitraux. Ladécouverte de l’art gothique, c’est-à-dire que Dieu est lumière, a son équivalent dans le principe de laverticalité, rendu par la structure interne de la cathédrale. L’art roman interprète les mystères de lacréation divine par l’assimilation de la nature environnante dans la technique de bâtir de l’artistemédiéval. La cathédrale consacre l’espace autour d’une communauté. Grâce aux cycles de fresques, auxensembles sculpturales, au chant liturgique, l’homme médiéval s’imprégnait de spiritualité. Le statutd’axis mundi donne à la cathédrale la fonction cosmique de liant entre le monde et le ciel. La cathédralea aussi le rôle de rendre Dieu intelligible pour l'homme en lui dévoilant la sacralité de l’espace qui setraduit aussi comme une sacralité intellectuelle. Les paroles de Saint Augustine dans son traité Demusica sont justes: „ Le premier principe esthétique est que la beauté trouve ses origines dans lacompréhension rationnelle d’un ensemble unitaire qui conduit vers la sagesse. “ La cathédralemédiévale, une vraie summa theologica, dévoile à l’homme par ses principes de symétrie et de proportionl’essence de la belle création divine. Comprendre le message transmis par une cathédrale est un moyen dese sauver. L’homme découvre ainsi que la beauté du monde est en effet la beauté de sa propre âme etl’expérience religieuse le ramène dans la sphère du sacre. L’espace devient ainsi l’image d’une vraiecathédrale de lumières où l’âme trouve un niveau supérieur de savoir. L’initiation par sacre fait quel’homme revient d’une manière symbolique dans le paradis d’où il a été banni.

L

In his book entitled The Sacred and the Profane Mircea Eliade noticesthat buildings are a means of consecrating space. Symbolically speakingthey represent the wish of man to return to the primordial time of thedivine revelation. A temenos is a centre of the world due to which theuniverse gets stability and harmony. By building man reiterates thecosmogonic act which brings him in direct contact with the universe.Thus takes place a symbolic transfiguration of the profane space intosacred space. The need to maintain the link with sacred space is of areligious nature. It symbolises the wish of man to remain close to a

* Lect. univ. dr. la Universitatea din Bucuresti, Facultatea de Limbi Straine, Catedrade Limba Engleza.

Caietele Institutului Catolic VII (2008, 1), 55-78.

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source of sacrality. Unlike profane space which is fragmentary, sacredspace is homogeneous, which implies a continuity of revelations.Entering sacred space is difficult as such places do not let themselvesbe conquered easily.

A sacred space takes its validity from the permanence of the hierophany thatonce consecrated it. Hierophany did not only sanctify one part of thehomogeneous profane space: it also ensures for the future the persistence of thissacrality. In this region hierophany repeats itself. The area thus becomes aneternal source of power and sacrality which allows man who enters it to share thepower and live this sacrality (Eliade, p. 338).

Medieval cathedrals play the same role of consecrating the spacearound a community. They gather the ideals of a whole world whichtries to escape the darkness of the barbarian invasions and evolvetowards order and harmony. The origins of medieval architecture arefound in the very origins of Christianity. In ancient Rome the firstcommunities illustrated in humble frescoes the symbols of the newreligion. The places where the Christians chose to create them were thetemple walls or the catacombs. The form they used was the Greek one,being more appropriate to a population that lived in the Greek andRoman spirit. The images were however new as instead of the paganpantheon which was already obsolete appeared episodes and characterswhich no longer corresponded to the old myths. Initially this new artbuilds in the dark as Christianity was not yet officially recognised. Yetgradually it grows in power and stability. The moment the artists didnot have to hide away from persecutions any longer the anonymous artcame to light and started using the ancient temples and basilicas.

The beginnings of the Middle Ages were characterised by thebarbarian invasions, by terrible misery and lasted between the fall of theRoman Empire and the crusades. Despite the difficult living conditionsthe need for beauty prevailed. Medieval art is the exclusive product ofthe religious communities which first finds a shape in monasteries,crossing their walls in order to enter the world.

In the chaos of moral customs, races, and languages that floated over the burnedtowns and destroyed crops monasteries constituted the only active centres(Faure, p. 244).

The social role of feudal art is obvious. The existence of the greatcathedrals is linked to the appearance of cities and communes. The

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cathedral replaces the monastery which in its closed and isolated spaceno longer corresponds to the expansive need of the medieval man. Asignificant example is the French commune which appeared strictly outof social and profitable interests. The commune obliged the medievalpopulation to cross the spiritual frontiers that had been established by achurch that was still prey to the rigid doctrines of the early MiddleAges. Due to the communes and the building of cities, medieval artacquires a new dimension, a larger one, culminating in the creation ofnational architectural styles like the perpendicular Gothic in England.The cathedral appeared together with the great cities, it grew and got adefinite shape due to them, passing through diverse evolutionarystages. Be they Romanesque or Gothic, the cathedrals depended on thefate of the cities surrounding them. Being bishoprics they exist as longas the ecclesiastical spirit that formed them persists. When the need forimages, for a visual culture necessary to educate the communitydisappears a written culture will prevail.

In the Middle Ages however these buildings are essential for thedevelopment of urban civilisation. Due to the cycles of frescoes, toliturgical songs, to the sculptural ensembles the medieval believer wasimpregnated by a religious spirituality which helped him to betterunderstand the mysteries of the divinity. The medieval cathedral, thatgenuine Biblia pauperum, is the central point of daily life, of the life ofman who enters it displaying the humility and the wonder due for thegreatness of God.

In a religion in which divine service was the essential ritual the main role ofGod’s house was to offer an appropriate space for the greatness of the divinemysteries. Yet the beauty of the forms was not adapted only to the sacredcharacter of the liturgical ceremony. The stone church, symbol of the greatChurch, image of the redeemed human race, had to make the believers visualisethe majesty of Heaven (Vauchez, p. 141).

The medieval town also plays an important role. It stands for a newmentality. The medieval town asserts itself between the Xth and theXIIIth centuries during one of the most important processes ofurbanisation that Europe has ever known. In comparison to the ancientcommunities it is much better situated in the surrounding landscape,offering the necessary protection both against natural calamities andagainst the invasions that threatened it.

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Among the typical features of the western medieval society nothing is morecharacteristic than the medieval town. No matter its forms of survival themedieval town, under its most common aspects, was essentially different fromthe ancient community. More oriented towards commerce and crafts it was alsobetter delimited from the surrounding plains. Nevertheless it needed them. Itoften struggled to dominate them or to use them. But the means were differentthan in the case of the classical civilisations which used the model of a politicaland religious centre open to the aristocracy living on the whole territory (Le Goff& Schmitt, p. 561).

Cities appeared due to the interest for commerce, for gatherings andfairs which were capable to ensure the economic prosperity necessaryfor the flourishing of culture. The growth of the agriculturalproduction and especially the development of guilds also explain thegrowth of the population which characterises this period. The medievalmarket towns are the origin of the great cities of which Paris is the firstthat can be called like that. The medieval town is above everything ahighly populated community, grouped in a small place, in the middle ofalmost deserted spaces. It is the centre of a system of specific valuesthat urge towards the practising of crafts and trades on whoseflourishing depends also the inclination towards creativity and art.Medieval art, including the cathedrals, is tightly linked to the economicprogress of a certain area. Once money starts to be used the financialsupport provided by towns becomes essential. To make art one needsfunds, and these are obtained due to economic prosperity. The town isalso a social organism in which the rich are equal on the social scaledominating a homogeneous mass that obeys them. Due to these richpeople medieval art knows new evolutions as many offer theirbelongings for the building of a cathedral. This community lives in itsown time, a time governed by the church and marked by the tolling ofbells calling the believers to the divine service. It is a time that issacralized when man enters a cathedral where divine eternity takes theplace of the profane time of the daily existence. Thus the communeconstitutes itself in an institutional and social autonomy. On thisautonomy depend the guilds and the merchants. Though it is not animage of democracy which is often obtained by revolts, urbanautonomy is the first stage in the separation of the city from themedieval village it included. As the place of a bishopric, the city getseconomic and administrative independence which will allow it to

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expand without being hindered by the more primitive rural civilisation.The cathedrals that are built in these bourgeois towns are a sign ofpower and authority. They are the centre of a world which graduallyevolves from the period of transition which characterizes the earlyMiddle Ages. Urban mentality replaces rural mentality just like acathedral becomes more important than a monastery.

The town, as a place of many movements of solidarity, acts as a social promoterin order to integrate while at the end of the Middle Ages it acts in the oppositeway, excluding and marginalising. It welcomes travellers, pilgrims, ill people forwhom hospitals are built. It contains numerous centres. The town dominates thesurrounding villages and a more or less large territory, together with a periphery,itsef more or less large, where it has economic, legal and political power (Le Goff& Schmitt, p. 564-565).

Medieval art that flourishes in the urban areas is devoted toChristianity. Starting with the little stone church which resists to thebarbarian invasions until the great Gothic cathedral, art obeys theinterests of the city. Urban theology, as it is understood in the medievalculture belonging to the XII-XIIIth centuries, is ambivalent. On theone hand it is influenced by the Biblical tradition where many townsare punished by God for their sins (e.g. Sodom, Gomorrah, Babylon).Saint Bernard de Clairvaux, for instance, urged the people to flee townsand to take shelter in the nearby monasteries. On the other hand forthe intellectual elite of the age the town tries to be the image ofJerusalem, the city of God. This ambivalence is also found in the Biblewhich “starting with the Genesis until the Apocalypse displays agradual urbanisation of the other world, replacing paradise, the gardenof the early ages, with a town of the last days.” (Le Goff & Schmitt, p.566).

In the case of a profound Christian mentality like the medieval one,the town has its spiritual centre. A cathedral is the place of an eternalpilgrimage as it shows to man the way to find God. In the RomanesqueMiddle Ages man journeyed symbolically to the apse or theunderground crypt where were buried the saints he prayed to. Theirmiraculous powers are the echo of the wish, of the nostalgia to returnin the middle of a divine world which offers happiness and trust. Theform of a cathedral is also symbolical. Heading towards the altar, manadvances to the east, that is symbolically speaking to Jerusalem. The

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wish to start a pilgrimage, to participate in the miracle of theResurrection is the reason for which every church is oriented to theeast. During the divine service the priest also turns to the altar,undergoing a symbolical journey to Jerusalem.

A medieval cathedral, be it Romanesque or Gothic, is organised onsome principles. In the northern part where the sun never shines arerepresented images of the Old Testament. It is the world which has notyet been touched by the divine light. Even if the New Testament is thefulfilment of all the prophecies in the Old Testament, it was stillbelieved that the people living in that time were experiencing spiritualdarkness. In the south where the sun is in full glare there are scenesfrom the Gospels. Natural light is associated with divine light, andwhen the Gothic style is invented man’s need for light becomes anessential characteristic of the new art. In the west, where the sun sets,there are images of the Last Judgement. The end of the day is the endof the world, thus putting an end to a whole cycle of life and death. Amedieval cathedral becomes thus a map of redemption, showing theway towards the holy places and the way in which the believer canreach them. It is also a summa theologica as in the concrete beauty of thebuilding are found the elements contained in the sermons and thesacred texts. A cathedral illustrates the essence of medieval theology,displaying the unity and the harmony of the divine creation. The worldis no longer a chaos, but a cosmos. Entering a cathedral man leavesbehind his daily worries and the dangers of a troubled and unsafeepoch. The church has the role of a sanctuary protecting the persecutedones. Many medieval cathedrals sheltered fugitives or peoplepersecuted by the authorities.

Entering a cathedral medieval man is aware of his privileged positionwhich is suggested to him by the cross-form of a church. Advancingbetween the aisles he reaches the middle where he finds himself in fulllight. He is in the light of the sun, but in fact it is God’s light. InEngland, after the Norman conquest, a church was considered a laddertowards Heaven, as it is the image of God’s word. This role is alsojustified by the symbol of a cathedral as a pilgrimage place proper. Inthe beginning leaving for a certain sanctuary on a pilgrimage wasobligatory if man had gravely sinned. Penitence brought him back inthe community. Later, when the journey lost its penitential meaning,

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and due to some reasons for which the person could not go to a certainsanctuary, there appeared another way of reconciling with God. Goinground a cathedral and stopping in some precise points was a reiterationof the journey to the holy lands. Repeating the ritual several timesduring a certain period brought absolution from sins. A cathedral thusbecomes a concrete means to find redemption. The Way of the Crosswas part of the ritual, implying the consecration of time and space for awhole community.

In his treaty De musica Saint Augustine thinks that the artist is aspiritual guide whose mission is to unveil the truth hidden by theScriptures. This truth is not beautiful in itself, but it directs attention tothe source of all beauty. The cathedral has the role to underline divinebeauty, to make God intelligible to man. All such constructions arebuilt on the principle of equality. Be it Romanesque or Gothic, thebuilding impresses by its proportions. In this way the artist is capableto master its matter. In the same treaty De musica Saint Augustine saysthat the first aesthetic principle consists in the fact that beauty comesfrom the rational understanding of a unitary whole which leads towisdom. The artist is divinely inspired in his work.

What are the superior things with the exception of those in which there is thesupreme, eternal and immutable equality ? There is no change or time for them;out of them come the constructed, ordered and modified images in such a wayso that they should imitate eternity. As terrestrial things are linked to celestialthings their temporal development is united in a harmonious succession as in anuniversal song (St. Augustine, in Robertson, 117).

A cathedral is made up of the basic elements which correlate inorder to form an image of harmony.

Beauty is the ultimate purpose of the medieval artist who contributesin his own way to the glory of God. Human spirit is directly guided bydivine will as, Saint Augustine says, nothing comes in between the artistand his visions (nulla natura interposita). The anonymous medievalbuilder chooses his subjects both from the already existing tradition inthe building field and from the surrounding reality. He gets his orderfrom the commune or the bishop and he has well defined problems tosolve. Behind him is the Roman-Byzantine tradition, quite confuse andwhich no longer fits the demands of the new architectural style. Hisobligation is to make a construction large enough to contain in it the

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population of a town. He finds most helpful the plans he makes withthe compasses, the lead weight, the tracing square. He has next to himother skilful masters, believing in the same faith and who do not havethe least doubt or existential anxiety. But most of all they are the peopleof their time. The old theory about the naivety and the simplicity of themedieval man is not valid any more. These people are characterised bypragmatism and by a highly adaptable spirit to reality.

In an epoch in which architecture quickly evolves the artist mustinnovate, he must have a practical spirit without which his work wouldbe in vain. The passage from the Romanesque style to the Gothic styleis the most important architectural change. The Romanesque systemproposed a doctrine in which man had to be aware of his sins, he hadto bow his head with humility to the ground, listening to the voice ofthe priest speaking to him in Latin which he could not understand. Thesermon was the only part of the divine service which was undertaken inthe vernacular language. It insisted on the original sin and on thenecessity that it should be expiated. The Romanesque cathedral is thestone image of this doctrine which bears down on man, burying him inhis fear of eternal damnation. Romanesque art, an ars moriendi, creates atomb-church which covers the underground crypt and its relics. It isthe low vault under which the poor people come fearfully to listen inthe dark to the voice of the Church. The Romanesque constructioncloses down on the one who enters it, swallowing him up in its entrails.Its austerity derives from the doctrine of Saint Paul who in his lettersasserted that only the soul has the right to live on condition that itnever crosses the strict limits of the dogma. Romanesque art is theimage of an all-powerful Church. It is the image of fierce moral valueswhich are characteristic for a rigid world in which genuine life does notexist.

Once mentality is changed in the XIIIth century cathedral art definesits principles in a different way. From an ars moriendi oriented towardsthe ground it becomes an ars vivendi opening up to the sky. Openingtowards the light is the great innovation of the Gothic style. In theplaces where in the Romanesque churches there were no spaces, butonly compact and thick walls, there appear now luminous windowsdecorated with stained glasses which filter the light of the sun. Thedarkness of the Romanesque crypt, its extraordinary austerity melt in

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the verticality, slenderness and harmony of the Gothic pillars. Thebeliever no longer looks up towards an angry God who punishes, buthe heads full of hope towards a loving and merciful one. He raises hiseyes to the vault which towers above him at incredible heights, hevisually embraces the huge and luminous nave. He has a feeling ofascension, of transgressing his limits. While in the Romanesquecathedral there were narrow spaces he now finds the lateral naves, thetransept, the choir, the apse. Man is aware of his place in the universe,of the fact that he is God’s most precious creation. He regains hisdignity lost in centuries of invasions and epidemics. He can trustfullylook at the others because they form a community for whomredemption is a certainty. Hope is provided by the beauty of the stainedglasses which in wonderful colours tell the biblical story of pain andsalvation.

A common practice in medieval architecture is the juxtaposition ofimages. Thus, a scene from the Old Testament is opposed to one fromthe New Testament so that the viewer should better understand thehidden meaning of the image. Visual culture was essential for acommunity which was often illiterate. Just like medieval theatre, whichwas not accidentally played on the parvis of a cathedral, interiordecorations helped with the spiritual education of the people. A scenelike The Original Sin was juxtaposed to The Resurrection. Thussymbolically was produced the translation of meaning from sin toabsolution of the viewer himself. Many cathedrals had schools nearbywhich gives them an educational role. In the new system of thinkingproposed by Gothic art the universe is larger and better organised, andthe values linked to a cathedral change radically.

In the Romanesque buildings there was a sort of connection between thedarkness and the wall, while in the new architecture there is an associationbetween structure and light. Indeed, as the elements of this structure haveobtained more importance than the walls and the vaults, the builders could opentheir constructions and the abundance of light will allow them to give value andto plastically justify their compositions. Clarity is necessary in a more organisedworld in which every group has a functional role to play. The lack of clarity,darkness, imprecision must be removed (Scobeltzine, p. 277).

The deep significance of the light, all the slender columns, theirresistible verticality are the result of the artist’s wish to bring the lightinside the building. Abbot Suger, the founder of the abbey of Saint

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Denis in France, the first using the Gothic style, sums up in histreatises the doctrine about the light. Due to his efforts, “the new,transparent choir, built instead the opaque Carolingian apse, will beassociated with an equally luminous nave and the whole building will beflooded in a more brilliant light than before.” (Panofsky, p. 31).

The light Suger talks about, lux nova, is both the light that floods thebuilding and the light of the New Testament. Suger insists on theparadigm of words like clarere, clarus, clarificare in his attempt tounderline the metaphysical meaning of the light. The cathedral is meantto guide the spirit which looks for a significance beyond concreteperception. Claritas is the word used to express the power to irradiateor the brilliance that comes from God. As light must be clear themessage also must be transparent. The cathedral as an axis mundi is notonly the centre of the community, but it also provides it with the mostimportant lessons needed for the polishing of the human spirit. If inRomanesque art man still lives in the surrounding darkness, in Gothicart he is the centre receiving and irradiating light.

The two major architectural styles of the Middle Ages, Romanesqueand Gothic, are characterised by some specific features that distinguishthem in the context of medieval ecclesiastical art.

Thus Romanesque art inherits the Cistercian principles of asceticism,nevertheless adding its own innovations. A Romanesque cathedral isaustere, but it contains sculptures and paintings made by the greatartists of the epoch. Romanesque art has its origins in the classicaltradition on which it put the foundations of the first stone churches inthe west. In a more general understanding of the term Romanesquemeans the period from the middle of the XIth century to the beginningof the XIIIth century. Stimulated by economic prosperity, by relativestability and demographic growth, Romanesque art continues to buildits monasteries and cathedrals. The Romanesque artist is moreinterested to create abstract structures of the order that he proposes.Romanesque cathedrals have round windows that support the weightof the whole ensemble. The windows have the role to brighten theinterior and not to embellish the construction which is very austere.Romanesque architecture is characterised either by vast luminoussurfaces, the economy of details and decorations, or by thepredominance of the chiaroscuro, the depth of the nave or the sculpted

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surfaces which create forms and expressions of exceptional variety. Thegreat innovations of Romanesque art are the system of tribunes and theportals or the capitals decorated with rich sculptures. Romanesquecathedrals combine the severity of the plans and forms with therichness and the liberty of expression of the decorations.

Coming after Carolingian art with its preference for abstract forms and theneglect for the human figure, Romanesque sculpture gave back to man his placeas main subject of art; the main subject, but not the only subject like in theAntiquity. Man returns to art accompanied by the totality of nature (Tatarkiewicz,p. 209).

Romanesque art owes much to the development of the vault. In thebeginning the construction of the Christian basilicas is reduced torelatively small buildings and to crypts. The first basilicas have woodenroofs. The development and the organisation of the basilical plan arethe essential features of Romanesque art.

The concentrated plan, imitated after the old funeral monuments, adapted toChristian art for the dynastic chapels and for baptisteries, finds in Romanesqueart a new vitality in the imitation of the dome built by emperor Constantine overthe Holy Sepulchre (Focillon, p. 121).

Romanesque churches, with some exceptions in Italy andNormandy, support the arched vault, obliging the artist to strengthenthe walls that supported the weight of the whole building in order tocounterbalance the pressure of the exterior. Reducing the openings inthe walls to minimum, which depends on the same problem,contributes to the sober but yet impressive light of the edifices.Another feature is provided by the large deambulatories with lateralchapels especially built to facilitate the access to the holy relics.

A Romanesque cathedral has three or five naves. It has a simple or adouble transept on which open oriented chapels. The lateralprolongations of the transept form a transversal church which isincluded in the main building. It allows for a permanent passage to theinterior of the edifice from the gates of the western portal to the apseand back again. The most important part of a Romanesque cathedral isthe apse as it contains the shrines of the saints. Sometimes the relics arepreserved in crypts similar to the martyrium in the primitive churches.The apses are usually grouped around the deambulatory, thus allowingan easier passage for the pilgrims. An important role is played by the

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tribunes due to the necessity of equilibrium and the distribution of thelight. They are not only ways of access destined to the circulation ofpeople, but they create a true superior church surrounding the nave andoften receiving large numbers of people in their vast openings.

Romanesque architecture is a combination of volumes as early roman art used tobe, but it uses more varied and more scholarly devices. One must situate himselfin the apse or outside it in order to understand these measures and progress.From the roof of the chapels to the one of the apse and from here to thesuperior level that supports the lantern tower and up to the point of the spire, theview floats like in a permanent ascension during which each stone stair is ameasure of space (Focillon, p. 127).

Some churches allow for an abundance of decorations whichnevertheless does not transgress the strict limits imposed by thearchitectural monument. Romanesque sculpture has its own features.The sculpted figures on the portals seem to be part of the wall thatsurrounds them. The accent is placed on the face and the hands, theRomanesque artist is not interested in a more complex movement. Thepredilect subjects of Romanesque sculpture coincide with the austeredoctrine that inspires their creator. Most frequent are the LastJudgement, the image of God punishing the world. Romanesquecathedrals are characterised by the richness of images and of theexterior decorations. It is a whole world that lives, swarms and attractsthe person looking at it. The complexity of Romanesque art is given bythe original combination between austerity and picturesque, by thevitality of the represented images.

Romanesque art must make the church speak, must satisfy the necessities of arich iconography and at the same time place it in space without weakening themonumental masses and their functions. On top of a column had to be raisednot one or two figures that could be easily combined – Christ in glory, SaintAnna and Saint Elisabeth, Adam and Eve –, but the more numerous charactersfrom the cycle of birth, of the Flight into Egypt or of the Last Supper (Focillon,p. 172-173).

The continuity of movements and of the sculpted figures, the directrelationship with the stone mass, the multiplications and theprolongations of the decorations create compact systems in whichnothing is isolated without breaking the unity of the ensemble.Architectural conformity and geometrical schemes are essential featuresof Romanesque architecture. Symmetry is given by the well-defined

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placement of the images, by the ordered frames which establish andmould the composition on the ornament.

Opposed to Romanesque art Gothic art brings a different way ofshaping the forms of a cathedral. In the Middle Ages it was called “theFrench style” and it reflects the scholastics of the age. The doctrines ofmedieval scholastics are either building traditions, or are spread indifferent treatises read by the Gothic architects. It is highly unlikely thatthe Gothic builders read the philosophical books of the time, but theygo to school or to church, they listen to sermons, they participate inpublic debates. The Gothic architect is a cultivated man who uses theprinciples of his edifice from the ideas he has heard in the debates.Gothic art is more intellectualised than Romanesque art which is closerto nature.

The key of the new aesthetic is found in the words of Saint ThomasAquinas who considers as most important the concepts of order andclarity. Divine nature gathers all things according to some clear rules, sothat all should be organised, each thing maintaining its specific purityeven in the structures where it enters in reciprocal combinations. SaintThomas insists on the idea that “the spirit must base its knowledge onthe sensible world”. This theory originates in the Platonic distinctionbetween the material and the sensible worlds. In the same way theartistic representations in the Gothic cathedrals are images of divinebeauty that they represent according to human models.

Like the Romanesque cathedral, the Gothic one has the form of across which corresponds to an initiatic pattern. It starts from theCrucifixion, it passes through Resurrection and Ascension and itreaches Redemption. Thus the western facade with its central portalcorresponds to a threshold that leads man to eternity. The cathedral isalso the stone image of medieval metaphysics, of the theories aboutnumber, measure and weight. Both the aesthetics and the medievaltheology originate in the Christian artistic principles developed in theearly Middle Ages. Christian philosophy, enriched by the works ofPlato, Saint Augustine and Boethius, stresses the concept of change ofthe material values into the immutable beauty of the cosmos. Themedieval architect transforms these common qualities in divine orderas the spirit contains in it the exemplary plan of the universe.According to medieval philosophy, the universe is organised on a

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perfect hierarchical structure. The origin of this thinking is found againin the Platonic theory about cosmic order. The forms of creation arecompared to the perfection of the forms that are found in the mind ofthe Creator. Human life, physical or spiritual, constitutes a microcosmwhich is the reduced image of the divine macrocosm. Human soulfinds its harmony in the divine reason which in its turn is formed bythe material world and by the universal order. The harmonious andhomogeneous structures of the Gothic are the result of the well-established laws of proportion. All elements play the same role onetowards the other thus reaching unity. The elements divide andcombine according to mathematical laws of proportion in order toproduce the substance of the universal soul. The principle of symmetryis taken by the medieval artist from the treatises of Saint Augustinewho considers mathematics, geometry and music as the three ways tounderstand the universe. The world unveils both its moral and itsphysical structures and together they achieve cosmic unity. Medievalman must always discover the conclusion of the message transmitted tohim as being the truth and he must not guess it by applying hypotheses.The aim of the edifice is to open the road to the truth.

The proportions given to some elements, defined strictly from amathematical point of view, serve for the delimitations of the conceptof division which is found in the Platonic dialogue Timaeus. Platoconsiders that the vision on the universe depends on the way in whichman succeeds in delimiting the different aspects of the world in orderto establish their true value and to give them the place they deserve inthe harmonious structure of the universe. In the same way the structureof a cathedral depends on several different elements which put togethercreate unity. Gothic architecture defines itself as a balanced gamebetween functional elements. The visible representations of theconstruction form the harmonious pattern of geometricalconfigurations which constitute the interior of a Gothic cathedral.Using the principle of symmetry the medieval architect builds theinterior of the edifice as a mirror to the exterior. A cathedral is a vastsystem of divisions, subdivisions and multiplications that help with theclear explanation of the message.

Thus is produced a movement from the concrete representations tothe sacred reality of the principles that give meaning and moral value to

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the existence. The medieval architect cultivates reason not only becauseit gives him the opportunity to build a stable edifice, but also because itis a way to come close to the divinity. As the artist knows that what hedoes is a good thing, the structure of a cathedral stresses the patternsthat form it, showing the deliberate display of its components. Gothicarchitecture unveils the way in which creation functions and not whatcreation really is. It is based on visual logic which brings together theconstitutive elements in a harmonious unity. In the Gothic cathedralsthe nave is the most accomplished as it has that absolute quality, thatcertain logic which the light passing through the stained glasses makeseven more beautiful. Thus the created forms are linked to each otherand they transform the whole construction in a homogeneousexpression of the artistic sensibility.

The beginnings of Gothic art are found in the abbey of Saint Denisin Paris. The discovery of the new art initiated by abbot Suger is thatGod is light. Each being participates in the process of the creation oflight. To have the light means to share in the divine spirit, to be thelight-bearer and to give it to the others as well. Wherever the stainedglass can be introduced in the wall frame, the light floods in the nave.What in the beginning used to be a small window gradually grows untilit covers all the space between the pillars. According to abbot Suger,light is necessary to worship God, therefore the interior of thecathedral must be very large in order to allow for a disciplinedmovement of the believers. The importance given to light is found inthe philosophical treatises of the age, in the works of SaintBonaventura or Albertus Magnus who created a special aestheticsentitled the aesthetics of light.

Light is the radical energy, the primary form and the link among all substances.There is a spiritual light which is for the intelligible things what corporal light isfor the sensible things (Gilson, p. 437).

Due to the light which floods the Gothic cathedral, the believer hasnot only the possibility to better understand the theological meaning,but also to perceive the fact that it is built for him so that he shouldfind the light in his own soul. Primordial light takes the shape of allthings, becoming origin of life and cause of existence. It is transformedin the light of knowledge and of reason for all that lives on earth.

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In the divine intellect is any form which is only potential in the primary matterand this is possible due to the knowledge that this intellect has about the form, ashe knows it and because he knows it. This is the beginning both to explain theexistence of the intelligible things for a created intellect and to explain theintellects able to know these things. By creating the world, God gives distinctforms to matter and these forms are images of the divine universal things(Gilson, p. 473).

Human soul is a copy of the divine soul. It is open to illuminationand to the knowledge of the universe. Abbot Suger proposes the samedoctrine, of knowing the world through art. The aesthetics of lightinspired the abbot who for the first time in France enlarges the mainnave, gives up the tribune system and introduces the coloured stainedglasses in the large windows framed in the walls. The essence of thenew theology proposed by Suger is the Incarnation. It combines in asubtle way the image of God from the Gospels (more human andcloser to the believers’ soul) with the one found in the Eucharist (moreabstract and harder to decipher). Thus is achieved a clarification of thedivine ideal from texts and symbolic representations. A Gothiccathedral offers an image of unity around a central idea. The lightcoming from God puts each being in its own place. In its turn eachbeing represents God in its own way. Beauty and kindness areillustrated by the light of the new faith. The whole universe is made upof light, all radiations returning to God who unites them in a generalimage of His love for man. The luminous creation implies a progressivereturn to the divine being from where all begins. The circle closesbecause God cumulates all beings in Himself both visible and invisible.At the successive levels of the hierarchy the visible things reflect thelight even better. All is based on the symmetry laws debated not only inthe philosophical treatises, but also in the sermons, liturgies and thesacred texts. Beauty does not exist in separate elements, but in theharmonious proportion of the parts. “The universal essence of beautyexists in the splendour of the form which dominates the proportionedparts of the matter.” (Gilson, p. 441).

A cathedral signifies the unity of the universe in stone with an accentput on the moral lesson taught to the person who enters such abuilding. Medieval man in the Gothic age is fascinated by colours,stained glasses and windows. They do not have only a functional rolelike in Romanesque art, they also tell a story. Often the biblical

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episodes form a continuous text creating what may be called “the Bibleof the poor.” The English poet John Milton gave them the mostbeautiful name: “storied windows”. The light coming through eachwindow symbolises the love of God for man. The sparkle of lightfound in every being reflects the light in the world, bringingredemption for the one that can see beyond appearances. Gothic art isbased on the principle of opening and illuminating. Abbot Sugerconsiders that “the beautiful creation shines with nobility. It illuminatesthe spirit and guides it to the true light for which Christ is only thegate.” (Suger, in Duby, p. 67).

The art of the stained glasses reaches its climax in the high Gothicperiod of the XIIIth – XIVth centuries. A cathedral is a reasoneduniverse, and the form that it has starts from a judgement over space,the forces that influence it and equilibrium. The stained glass, the mostbeautiful achievement of Gothic art, with the bright clearness thatcharacterises it, has intimate and profound values. There are two typesof painting for a stained glass: the one that imitates the sunlight like agame of light and shadow, giving the illusion of a space shaped in itsprofundity, and the one which uses natural light in its own purposes,gives it a special artistic quality, introduces it in the space of therepresentation and by the artifice of transparency or of the goldenbackgrounds combines and creates an original light. In the latter casenatural light becomes an artistic achievement due to the craft and theinventiveness of the medieval artist. The tradition of the stained glassesexists in France from the time of the Merovingian dynasty, though along time it was believed that it was brought from the Orient alongwith the crusades. It is true that the Arabs knew the technique toincastrate coloured glass in the window frames. In the abbey of SaintDenis in Paris the numerous biblical or legendary characters, the varietyof the human forms, the abundance of life, the activity of the guilds, allare found in these genuine tapestries made of glass and light. At thelevel of the composition there is a difference between the technique ofthe XIIth century and its continuations in the high Gothic age. Thus inthe beginning was preferred an intense narrative of the episodes whichshould deeply impress the viewer. Later the choice is in favour ofgreatness and realism. The colours of the stained glasses have their ownsignificance guiding the viewer in the deciphering of the message.

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The cold nuances of the background, which tend towards a violet harmony,emphasize the warmth and the translucent solidity of the other parts, nuances ofbright red as are not found even in the golden paintings, nuances of rich anddeep green. Even when violet creates a nocturnal effect, there is still place forshining light (Focillon, p. 169).

The stained glasses of Chartres and their extraordinary blue, those ofNotre Dame in Paris which in the huge roses of the transept resemblethe chariots of fire in the Bible, the wonderful achievements of York orWestminster are only some examples of this art which brings toperfection the aesthetic thinking of the age. The image of life theycontain in their network belongs to the celestial dimension of light.Together with the art of the stained glasses the Gothic style hasanother important achievement: the column-statues. They are found onthe portals of the cathedrals. They demonstrate that the image of mancan be associated to a vertical element. The images are made accordingto the dimensions and the proportions of the columns they are appliedto, the head supporting the capital while the inferior part of the bodyidentifies itself with the column it leans against. In comparison to theRomanesque statues which have to conform to a certain space, thusacquiring the strangest forms, the column-statues of the Gothic art donot have to adapt to a certain space. Space arranges itself according tothe statue and confers it liberty of expression, harmony and realism.The effects of light and shadows offer an ornamental interpretation tothe figures, be they biblical characters, kings or bishops. They areimmobile and the gesture by which they keep next to their body thebook, the sceptre or the coat is always the same. The realism of Gothicart is due to the inclination of the artists towards the beauty of thecolour and of the form. Art has to represent the power, kindness andwisdom of God. Consequently it has to be beautiful and spiritualisedbecause this is how divine creation is and the ideal of every artist is torender it as truly as possible.

The beauty they wanted to give to the body was not the beauty that a body hadin real life, but it was a borrowed beauty. The bodies were made beautiful byemphasizing the beauty of the soul. To the latter we owe the proportions of theGothic figures (Tatarkiewicz, p. 214).

In this art the principle of verticality is essential. Just like the vault ofthe main nave rises to impressive heights, stressing the wish for

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ascension of the medieval man, the column-statues give back to manhis dignity. The spirit is freed from its terrestrial links and it sees thebeauty of the divine creation. In this way the cathedral really becomesan axis mundi uniting the two dimensions.

An essential role in the change of mentality was certainly played bythe travels which opened the human spirit to new horizons. Due to thecrusades the poor Occident heard about the mysterious Orient full ofwonderful legends. The Orient gave to the medieval man the feelingthat the world was larger than he thought and that there were no limitsfor the universe which could not be contained in one religion. Thefundamental opening brought by the crusades is found in themiraculous lands, the wonderful tales influencing the medievalmentality. In art this opening towards the imaginary is illustrated byfantastic animals, gargoyles and the strange apparitions which populatea cathedral.

In his book entitled The Fantastic Middle Ages Jurgis Baltrusaitisanalyses gargoyles as the strange decorations for a Gothic cathedral.Initially this element is simply a functional one as it serves for theevacuation of rain. Later it becomes one of the characteristic aspects ofEuropean Gothic.

A number of strange, unknown or little known creatures appear and spread inthe Gothic imaginary in the XIIth century. They are especially monsters obtainedby combinations of heads (Baltrusaitis, p. 14).

These strange apparitions are associated with remote universes, withworlds and parallel dimensions of the supernatural. Their emerging intoreality shows the tight relationship that medieval man has with theother world. Originating in classical antiquity, the fantastic animals, theGothic monsters that decorate the Gothic cathedrals arerepresentations of an evil that must be defeated. Their public exposure,unveiling the grotesque which characterises them renders theminoffensive. The classic type of gargoyles is that of a human head, withno body and two animal paws put one over the other. The principleaccording to which they function is that of the mobile faces whichappear along the whole body. The faces are presented in differentattitudes, many of them grotesque and naturalistic: laughing, grinning,frowning. Although they seem strange in an art that cultivates beauty,the gargoyles emphasize the variety of the divine creation which in its

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multiplicity includes both the ugly and the beautiful. On the other handthese statues called by Baltrusaitis Gothic gryls have aesthetic function.Just like in the treatises of Saint Thomas Aquinas where evil is theabsence of good, ugliness is the absence of beauty. Juxtaposing the twoaesthetic categories there appears a parallel between the tworepresentations. Appreciating a beautiful object is made in comparisonwith an ugly one, just like evil opposes to good. The believer is offeredtwo images of the world from which to choose for his spiritualfulfilment.

If Romanesque art was austere in its impressive simplicity, Gothicart discovers the power of the imaginary, of the fantastic, associatingthe Biblical saints with legendary creatures. It is perfectly normal forthe medieval man who dreams now about the treasures of the Orient.The travel of the Polo family from Venice is only one example ofentrance in that miraculous space.

Cathedral art cannot be separated from the cult of images which inthe Middle Ages has great importance. The notion of image is reflectedin the medieval conception about man and world. It is found both inthe figurative objects (stained glasses, sculptures) and in the literaryworks (theatre). Images create imagination, namely that ability tovisualise the unknown or the invisible. In literature the trope is allegory,in art the technique is similitude. The religious experience of themedieval man is made up of dreams, visions, meditations on the afterworld. In cathedral art appears the attempt to portray both theunknown material world, the aim of the travellers, and the spiritualworld known from the sermons and the sacred texts. Medieval cultureis therefore a culture of images carrying strong Christian influences.Due to them the believer moved farther and farther from the ancientidolatry which was forbidden. A significant example for the importanceof images in medieval art is the crucifix. There are two types ofrepresentation which correspond to the two architectural styles. InRomanesque art Christ is rendered in His glory with a crown of lightover His head and perpendicular legs, fixed by separate nails. It is theimage of God risen above suffering and who redeems by His simplepresence. It is an abstract image, detached from the reality of themoment. It corresponds to a mentality found at the limits of thedoctrine imposed by Saint Bernard and by the Cistercian order for

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whom life was based on the fight between light and darkness. Sin isinherent to man who has to make penitence in order to find God. Thesimplicity of the forms and the pure lines in a Cistercian cathedral arethe result of the wish to keep intact the asceticism proper for a verystrict morality.

Opposed to the Romanesque crucifix the Gothic one is much moreexpressive. Christ is represented in the specific S-shaped form, figuringan image of pain. He is the Son of Man who redeems by His suffering.The legs are placed one above the other, fixed by the same nail. Theimage is concrete and it corresponds to a mentality which tries torecuperate the Biblical truth. It is wished to be a lesson of genuinemorality. The Gothic conception about light does not exclude a closereading of the Gospels. The medieval image renders

the visible in the invisible, God in man, absence in concreteness, the past and thefuture in the present. It thus reiterates in its own way the mystery of theIncarnation as it endows with presence, identity, matter and body whatever istranscendent and inaccessible (Le Goff & Schmitt, p. 321).

The meaning of an image is given by its link to the surroundingspace which must be analysed in its complexity, by the arrangement ofthe elements on the surface where the narrated episode is rendered.The general meaning does not depend only on one aspect, but itcontains all the significances which can be linked to a certainrepresentation. Most images are simultaneous and ambivalent, becausethey display more meanings at the same time, they can combinebetween themselves in order to create a new image, they can bejuxtaposed in order to facilitate the analogy. In a medieval cathedralimages also have an educational role. The religious representation canhelp with a better identification between the believer and God or thesaint he is praying to. Once reaching the sanctuary, the medievalpilgrim identifies himself symbolically with the local saint due to hisfaith. In the same way, watching with devotion at an icon or a paintinghaving a religious subject there appears a communion between theviewer and that work of art. Symbolically speaking man enters “inside“that work of art becoming part of the narrative scheme. Faith or simpleadmiration for the beauty of an image facilitates the transfer ofsensibility from the anonymous artist to the viewer. Man becomes partof the Biblical story as a character in the narrative pattern.

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Another domain having the same function is theatre. In this case themedieval cathedral plays the role of a background. Many of themedieval mysteries or miracles were staged in front of a cathedral. Theplace was called parvis coming from the French word paradis and itdenominated the strictly limited space before the entrance of acathedral. The building offered authority and authenticity to the play,assuring the entrance to a “virtual paradise” to those who understoodthe meaning of the play. Redemption through literature is a discoveryof the medieval world. The wagon on whose boards played the actorsis an image of the world, just like the cathedral is a map of salvation.Moreover, religious medieval theatre was played in the language of thecountry so that the public could better understand the story. Itcompleted as a welcomed variation the texts of the sermons whichused a more abstract language. Due to the staging on the parvis of thearchitectural ensemble the sacred and the profane mingled to offer thespectator a complex image of the world. For instance, in 1260 beforethe cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris was staged the play Le Miracle deThéophile written by the French poet Rutebeuf, or another play called LeVrai Mystère de la Passion by Arnoul Gréban which lasted four days andinvolved several hundred actors.

Inspired by the surrounding reality, the medieval artist transformsthe cathedral into the image of a whole world and its rights for hopeand life. A cathedral exists due to its builders, just like the architectdesigning its plans and the masters raising it live through it. Fromgeneration to generation the method of building changes and thereappear new techniques of using the matter which bring innovations. Anogive is raised over a semicircular vault, the form of the towers ismodified, there appear new chapels, a transept started in one style iscontinued in a different one. Thus appears unity in diversity, a themewith many variations which is the art of the medieval cathedrals. Eachcountry contributes in its own way to the improving of a certain style.Thus one can distinguish between German Gothic which is moreaustere and Italian Gothic which is more luminous and cheerful. Thegrowing wave of expressive forms contains the reality which is the onlysource of inspiration for the builders. The saints belonging to thegallery of column-statues have the face of the people met by the artistsin the street or in the field, living models for old stories. An important

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exception is the fact that God the Father is almost never figured in thesculpture of the cathedrals. Humility and respect prevented the artiststo attempt such representations.

Not only people are represented in the church decorations. Animalsand plants populate this complex and heterogeneous world. Theslender columns of the Gothic, the lace interweaving of the vaultsbelong to the trees and the vegetation from the forests that surroundeda village or a town. The light that flickers in the stained glasses, theirwonderful colours of blue, yellow, green or red are the colours of thesun, of the waters, of the cultivated fields. Just like the exterior world isfull of life, in the same way a cathedral comes to life due to the geniusof the artist. The anonymous builders are influenced by what they see,leaving free their creative talent. They innovate according to thepossibilities of a certain construction. The cathedral is no longer onlythe stone representation of a theological doctrine, it becomes the imageof the medieval mentality in its best and most picturesque form. Thecathedral

is human, traditional, revolutionary and deeply opposed to the authoritative andmoralising principle of Christianity which considers itself definitely organised, asit expresses moral ideas in the most sensitive way and because it translates in themost delicate way the doctrines which assert the royal character of the pure spirit.A cathedral regains human nature, the nature of the world it exists in. It loves theartist, as he, though weak, proves to have great courage. He describes paradise tothe other people with the trees, the waters and the clouds he sees when he raiseshis eyes to the sky or when he gets out through the gates of his city carrying thefruit and the vegetables he brings from the countryside together with the animalsthat share his destiny. The cathedral achieves the equilibrium between thecommon power of the people and the allegorical building whose creation hasbeen prepared by the Christian philosophy for more than a thousand years(Faure, p. 294-295).

Both in Romanesque and in Gothic art there is the same need toinnovate the theological doctrine, which sometimes is too abstract andhard to understand for the common people. The medieval artistdescribes a world which due to its imagination and creative spirit raisesthe mentality of the epoch to a level of knowledge never reachedbefore. Simple reality is sublimated in the ineffable art of the medievalartists and the genuine wonders which the medieval cathedrals are.

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Works cited

Baltrusaitis, Jurgis. Evul Mediu fantastic. Bucuresti, Editura Meridiane, 1975.Debicki, Jacek et al. Histoire de l’Art. Paris, Editions Hachette Education, 1995.Duby, Georges. Vremea catedralelor. Arta si societatea, vol. 1-2. Bucuresti, Editura

Meridiane, 1987.Duby, Georges. Le Moyen Age. L’Europe des Cathédrales. Gèneve, Editions d’Art Albert

Skira, 1984.Durand, Jannic. L’Art au Moyen Age. Paris, Editions Larousse-Bordas, 1999.Eliade, Mircea. Tratat de istorie a religiilor. Bucuresti, Editura Humanitas, 1992.Erlande Brandenburg, Alain. Catedrala. Bucuresti, Editura Meridiane, 1993.Faure, Élie. Istoria artei. Arta medievala. Bucuresti, Editura Meridiane, 1970.Focillon, Henri. Evul mediu gotic. Bucuresti, Editura Meridiane, 1974. Henderson, George. Gothic. London, Penguin Books, 1978.Gilson, Étienne. Filosofia în Evul Mediu. Bucuresti, Editura Humanitas, 1995. Le Goff, Jacques & Jean-Claude Schmitt. Dictionar tematic al Evului Mediu Occidental.

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