RIBBED VAULTING AND THE FLYING BUTTRESS
The Gothic style formed a natural development of the Romanesque style. The architects of a Gothic church wished to retain the vaulted ceiling but at the same time to do away with thick, solid walls, which had so little window space as to leave the interior of the building dark gloomy. They solved this problem, in the first place, by using a great number of stone ribs, which gathered up the weight of the ceiling and rested on pillars. Ribbed vaulting made possible higher ceilings, spanning wider areas, than in Romanesque churches. [13] In the second place, the pillars supporting the ribs were themselves connected by means of flying buttresses with stout piers of masonry outside the walls of the church. [14] These walls, relieved from the pressure of the ceiling, now became a mere screen to keep out the weather. They could be built of light materials and opened up with high, wide windows.
THE POINTED ARCH
Ribbed vaulting and the flying buttress are the distinctive features of Gothic architecture. A third feature, noteworthy but not so important, is the use of the pointed arch. It was not Christian in origin, for it had long been known to the Arabs in the East and the Moslem conquerors of Sicily. [15] The semicircular or round arch can be only half as high as it is wide, but the pointed arch may vary greatly in its proportions. The use of this device enabled the Gothic builder to bridge over different widths at any required height. It is also lighter and more graceful than the round arch. [16]
[Illustration: CROSS SECTION OF AMIENS CATHEDRAL
A, vaulting; B, ribs; C, flying buttresses; D, buttresses; E, low windows;
F, clerestory.]
GOTHIC ORNAMENT
The labors of the Gothic architect were admirably seconded by those of other artists. The sculptor cut figures of men, animals, and plants in the utmost profusion. The painter covered vacant wall spaces with brilliant mosaics and frescoes. The wood-carver made exquisite choir stalls, pulpits, altars, and screens. Master workmen filled the stone tracery of the windows with stained glass unequaled in coloring by the finest modern work. Some rigorous churchmen like St. Bernard condemned the expense of these magnificent cathedrals, but most men found in their beauty an additional reason to praise God.
[Illustration: GARGOYLES ON THE CATHEDRAL OF NOTRE DAME, PARIS Strange grotesque figures and faces of stone used as ornaments of Gothic buildings and as spouts to carry off rain water. They represent beasts, demons, and other creations of medieval fancy.]
THE CATHEDRAL AS A RELIGIOUS EDIFICE
The Gothic cathedral, in fact, perfectly expressed the religious spirit of the Middle Ages. For its erection kings and nobles offered costly gifts. The common people, when they had no money to give, contributed their labor, each man doing what he could to carry upward the walls and towers and to perfect every part of God's dwelling. The interior of such a cathedral, with its vast nave rising in swelling arches to the vaulted roof, its clustered columns, its glowing windows, and infinite variety of ornamentation, forms the most awe-inspiring sanctuary ever raised by man. It is a prayer, a hymn, a sermon in stone.