Features of Chartres Cathedral, Essay Example

History: Chartres Cathedral and Comparative Styles of Giotto and Pisano

Features of Chartres Cathedral

The central portal of Chartres Cathedral, which features a portrayal of the End of Time from the Book of Revelations, leads into the two-bay narthex, or entrance-way.  Through the narthex, one enters Chartres Cathedral’s seven-bay nave, the largest in France.  It features arcade, triforium and clerestory levels.  The design gives this part of the building a much more expansive window area than many other cathedrals. It also reduces the size of the walls, which is made possible by external flying buttresses.  The nave is also the site of the famous Chartres Labyrinth.

The crossing, the crux of the cathedral’s cruciform shape, is next with short transepts giving off to the north and south.  These are “enormous aisled transepts with triple portals and porches to rival the west front” (Fletcher, 430).  The Sacred Centre, which was the location of the original altar, is to the east of the crossing.

The choir area features a highly ornate screen, one of the cathedral’s most renowned features.  Choir screens were intended to separate this part of the church from the surrounding aisles, but the screen at Chartres Cathedral is a unique sample in its size and complexity.  It encircles the sanctuary and depicts religious scenes and symbolic representations.

Giotto and Pisano

One of Giotto di Bondone’s great accomplishments is his ability to establish a style that makes religious experience “relatable.”  His work came at a time when the austere religious practices and beliefs of the Middle Ages were giving way to a more personal form of worship and expression.

Giotto’s Arena Chapel Nativity depicts a scene of intense drama.  The Virgin and Christ child are “sheltered only by a shed open to the elements on all sides” (Stubblebine, 82).  Giotto omits the cave or grotto seen in earlier paintings.  As well, he doesn’t directly address the episode of the Savior’s first bath, showing only Mary handing Christ over to a woman who will bathe the child.

Nicola Pisano’s pulpit in the Baptistery of Pisa Cathedral establishes a new style that draws from elements of its predecessors.  Pisano’s focus was on the dignity of the human form, which is an expression of his classical influences.  The Pisa Cathedral pulpit features panels in relief showing scenes from the life of Jesus.  Three of the columns on which the pulpit sits are supported by lions.

Pisano’s innovative creation is the product of many different influences, including Roman and Greek reliefs, Gothic architecture and early frescoes and mosaics.  His genius is in how spectacularly he was able to distill dramatic elements and blend them with so much power and dignity.

References

Fletcher, Banister.  Sir Banister Fletcher’s A History of Architecture.  20^th edition. Oxford: Architectural Press. (1996).

Stubblebine, James H. Giotto: the Arena Chapel Frescoes. New York: W.W. Norton and Co. (1969).