Visual Arts and the GothicINTRODUCTION
REPRESENTATIVE WORKS
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Introduction
The dominant style of architecture in Europe from the twelfth century to the sixteenth century was first classified as "Gothic" by art critics and architects such as Giorgio Vasari and Sir Christopher Wren in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, respectively. The term was applied disparagingly, derived from "Goth," the common term for the fourth- and fifth-century Tuetonic invaders who were viewed as cruel barbarians. It is commonly held that the style originated in France c. 1100 with the Abbey Church of Saint-Denis, designed by Abbot Suger of Saint Denis. The Gothic style in architecture is characterized by vaulted ceilings, "flying" buttresses, and pointed arches, and stems from the desire among medieval architects to create earthly structures that reflected a sense of inspired, divine beauty. Gothic sculpture, which also began in France during this same period and appeared largely as decorative elements adorning Gothic structures, reflects the inspiration of the divine, but incorporates as well the beginnings of a humanist approach, with figures engaged in a search for meaning in their daily lives. Gothic period sculpture retained the religious and theological themes of the Romanesque period that preceded it, but focused closely on the depiction of mortal figures as pious and physically beautiful.
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