Gothic And Renaissance Architecture

13 Pages 3230 Words

Early Gothic
During the Romanesque Period many creations and innovations of architecture were occurring in various places, but it wasn’t until the construction of the Abbey Church of St. Denis that Gothic Architecture truly began to take shape. Here at this church in a region called Ile-di-France in northern France the various architectural innovations were brought together and formed the Gothic style.
Abbot Suger was a very innovative and energetic man who is said to be responsible for this advancement in architecture. In 1122 Suger was elected abbot of the French Royal Monastery of St. Denis. At this time St. Denis was not in its true splendor. The church was un-kept, overcrowded, and beginning to decay. The original building was built in 775 as a Carolingian basilica. Revisions had been made in 832 to enlarge the eastern chapel, but little work had been done since then. Sugar had aspirations to rebuild the church, yet had other matters that needed his attention before anything could be done. The Abbey was in financial trouble and faced a lot of criticism for the religious practices of the monks from Bernard of Clairvaux.
As Suger worked to strengthen the church’s finances and reputation, he researched and developed images of what he would like his church to become once the church itself was more in order. He studied the designs dictated by God, as was written in the Biblical descriptions of the Temple of Solomon. He read what he thought to be writing of St. Denis that documented the use of light’s mystical and metaphysical properties. He took and great interest in the discussions of colored light. Suger was planning on creating a building that was above all other buildings. He was determined to surpass the church of Hagia Sophia that was seen as the most splendid church in Christendom. In order to do so, Suger questioned travelers from Constantinople about the Hagia Sophia and its structure. Once the other concerns of the...