France's Gothic Revolution Photos

Paris, France
Photograph by James L. Stanfield
French builders of the 1100s first dared to fashion heaven's image in soaring cathedrals of stone. Entrances were through portals worthy of paradise, and the sanctuary was charged with light pressed through glass tapestries radiant with faith.
The Gothic building boom reflected an era of growing power for the monarchy, the cities, and the bourgeoisie, and the cathedrals expressed civic pride fully as much as ecclesiastical glory.
— From "The Gothic Revolution," July 1989, National Geographic magazine
Cathedral of Saint-Julien, Le Mans
Photograph by James L. Stanfield
Flying buttresses were constructed of vertical masonry piers with arches curving out from them like fingers. The fingers pressed against remnant wall sections between the great windows. The function of buttresses was to absorb thrust from the main body of the church, a serious threat to the structure during high winds.
With time, systems tended to become less massive and more fanciful. At the Cathedral of Saint-Julien in Le Mans, buttresses came in clusters of three, interlocked in a Y shape when seen from above.
— From "The Gothic Revolution," July 1989, National Geographic magazine
Amiens, France
Photograph by James L. Stanfield
Tallest nave in a French Gothic cathedral, the vaults of Amiens rise 139 feet [42 meters]. Commenced in A.D. 1220 by Robert de Luzarches, the nave took 16 years to complete.
The city of Amiens was a commune, a status conveying municipal independence under the feudal system. By definition the seat of a bishop, cathedrals were built with funds often donated largely by nobles and merchants. At Amiens merchant wealth came from two main sources: wind and woad, a plant used to make a blue dye popular throughout Europe.
— From "The Gothic Revolution," July 1989, National Geographic magazine
Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris
Photograph by James L. Stanfield
The most colossal church of its generation, the [Cathedral of Notre Dame] was the first to employ flying buttresses as part of its original design, although those earliest examples are not visible in this distant view.
As the first cathedral to make use of a full Gothic vocabulary—flying buttresses, rose and other windows of stained glass, pointed arches, and rub vaulting—Notre Dame anchored a style both distinctively French and truly novel.
—From "The Gothic Revolution," July 1989, National Geographic magazine