Fascinating for the medieval mind, light is the symbol of the communication between material and immaterial. Looking at two examples of French Gothic cathedrals, the aim of this essay will be the analysis of the influence which light has on the development of the Gothic architectural style. I will be discussing the symbolic importance of light in the medieval church and the effect that it has on the structural and compositional evolution of the cathedrals. The two case studies chosen are considered the starting point of Gothic and, respectively, the most iconic of its creation. If the Abbey of St. Denis illustrates why Gothic cathedrals stared to be built, Chartres emphasises the peak of the architectural current and the most impressive of its achievements. The cathedrals in the medieval period were not only places of worship; they were the very centres of social and economical activity of the community. The cathedral played the role of a city hall, social club, market place, place of authority, temple and even the projection of Heaven itself on Earth. This is why they were looked at with great veneration and importance, fact proved by the monumentality of their proportion and the great expense that was necessary for their construction. For the elevation of a cathedral the entire community was involved, from bakers to smiths and shoemakers. It was a communal effort which lead to the creation of the church, therefore, the birth of Gothic was a reflection of the way the ideal church should look like in medieval context, considering the great importance of light and the motifs that were attributed to it.
Gothic architecture began to arise in the 12th century in France, with the reconstruction of the Abbey of Saint Denis, in northern Paris, under the supervision of Abbot Suger. The Church was very popular due to the significance of St. Denis had during this time in France. The old structure made it difficult to host important celebrations, therefore, it needed to be remade in order to function, giving the abbot the opportunity to leave his mark on the face of architecture forever. While most of the Abbey is constructed in a Romanesque style, the choir and the chevet (1140-1144) are elements that defined a new architectural style. The particular way the choir and the chevet have been designed derives from Suger’s fascination with light, which he believed was divine and capable of uplifting one’s spirit.
Chartres cathedral (1194-1260), found in Chartres, is one of the most relevant examples of Gothic construction, using many elements which define the style; pointed arches; rib and panel vaults and flying buttresses. Chartres is also known because of its particular lighting. There is no direct light inside, all of it being filtered by the impressive stained glass windows. The contrast between the extremely light stained glass windows and the dark interiors, massive proportions and carefully realised details, makes the construction whole, immortalising perfectly the medieval life of the time. Structurally, the church is very strong, dominated by the flying buttresses outside, allowing a significant increase in the size of the windows.
The most important value that Gothic architecture was built on were “Lux Continua” (continuous light) and “Lux Lucent In Tenetris” (light shines in the dark) , allowing for the creation of ever-changing interiors based on the contrast between light and darkness. They are, however, not new ideas. People have always seen the sacred represented through light, it being the source of our sight, of our warmth and the force everything grows towards. Even during neolithic or megalithic eras, their temples would be aligned with exceptional astronomical phenomena (such as the solstices). In the same way, some Gothic cathedrals are aligned with the sun in such a way that the strongest and most impressive light is visible during the feast day of its patron saint . Light in the Gothic is more subtle. The significance of light in medieval times is strongly connected to the way the people perceived life and its meanings. What was important was not the substance and what is physical, but the essence of things, what they really mean in opposition with how we observe them. This is strongly visible in the medieval art, the painters being more interested in transmitting a feeling rather than a realistic representation of a person. This is why light as a concept has been separated into two different natures of it: “lux” the divine light, the light coming from God, and “lumen”, the light that radiates from “lux” and that people can perceive. The ultimate goal of the Gothic, as it was declared by Abbot Suger, is to get as close as possible to “lux”. Over the door of the Abbey of St. Denis he added a verse that summarises the philosophy behind his admiration for light:
Whoever you are, if you seek to fathom the good in these doors
Then marvel not at the gold or the cost, but find the aim of the artist.
This noble art has a hidden light that can lift the mind in an inward way
It warms the heart, to turn from daily concern to heaven within
And opens the door to truth in each of us.
Such art can show how the spirit within can be found in this world:
The dull mind rises to truth though material things,
And seeing tis light escapes its former submersion.
Suger’s aim was the dematerialisation of the heavy, dark stone structure of the Romanesque. As the church was the correspondent of the heavens on earth, it deserved the same glow as the new Jerusalem. Entering the cathedral would leave the impression of leaving the material world and becoming closer to God. The real innovation at St. Denis is not the Gothic structural elements which were used, as they were already available to Romanesque constructors, but the architectural idea which stood behind the way they were combined in order to create a new effect. To allow the light to be visible, the thick walls of Romanesque needed to be replaced with a more slender structure. This was accomplished through slender columns of stone that bared the load from the arches above, allowing the external walls to incorporate enormous stained glass windows. The effect that was obtained was not a blinding light, the colours of the stained glass giving the impression of the gems of the new Jerusalem. This strongly contrasted the idea of the interior space until that moment, the inside being a dark place in the medieval conception. At the same time, the use of repetitive vertical elements, such as clustered columns, highlights the vertical forces inside the building, creating a sense of ascension and the creation of a symbolic connection with God.
As the wish to include more and more light in the cathedrals arose, the technological means of building started to develop in order to create more slender, lighter and more impressive structures that would allow the walls to have windows vast in amount and big in proportion. It is arguable that the workers of that time knew the structural principles behind the constructions they were producing, most of the actions being backed by intuition and experience. The result, however, are massive stone structures, very resistant, that remain standing today, after thousands of years post construction. Stone is strong in compression, a property that the medieval architects and builders used to their advantage, using string elements that did not need a lot of filler between the blocks and that would rely exclusively on compression. The main techniques used in order to achieve this are the most iconic for the Gothic style: the pointed arch, the flying buttresses, the clustered columns and the webbing of the celling. The pointed arch was being used more because its height is not restrained by its width, resulting in higher buildings without the need of them being wider as well, the accent being placed on verticality and ascension. The flying buttresses and pinnacles allowed for the walls of the cathedrals to become thinner by taking the load from the vaulting and passing it vertically. This technique eliminated the need of thickening the walls so much at the base, making the structure look lighter and leaving more space for the windows. The structure of the windows also changed over time, beginning as surface Gothic (plate tracery) and developing into linear Gothic (bar tracery), leaving more space for glass and for light to get in. All the structural elements were decorated with sculptures representing natural elements or important saints and other personalities from the life of the church, both on the inside and on the outside. The light beautifully accentuated them, creating strong contrasts between the very bright and very dark surfaces that brought depth into the space. The shadows were constantly moving and the space inside was different in each moment, giving the impression of a place full of life.
The inside of the cathedrals was drowned not only in light, but also in colour. The windows evolved in line with the structure, and became progressively bigger as well as more colourful. The stained glass was more than just decorative; it told the stories of the saints replacing the murals. For the average illiterate medieval person, the images of the windows were the word of God, they were the Bible made accessible to them. In this way, the light reaching the dark interiors became the equivalent of sacred knowledge. Aesthetically, the windows are a very powerful statement. They are ambiguous, as there is no singular interpretation of their meaning. As well as the symbolic and religious importance that stained glass bears, they represent the community around the church and the glass workers that produced them. For instance, the stained glass of Chartres cathedral is one of the most impressive and best preserved from the Gothic period, with 152 out of 186 of the designs still intact. In opposition with most cathedrals before it, Chartres has almost only densely designed stained glass windows, creating a rather dark interior that contrasts with the luminosity of the windows and gives them more power and relevance than ever before. The images of the windows include the signs of the zodiac, celestial objects, plants or beasts, as well as biblical episodes and depictions of Virgin Mary and the Son, Mary Magdalene and others, displaying a true melange of notions, myths and symbols that are less evident now than they were in medieval times. The colours used are also incredibly impressive and very bright, offering a unique experience to anyone that enters the cathedral. The most famous of the windows are the Blue Virgin Mary (Fig. 18.), with the extremely saturated blues and reds giving it incredible power, and the North Rose (Fig. 15.), which impresses not only through the colours, but also through the very carefully thought mathematical structure. The light in Chartres Cathedral is, therefore, almost artificial, playing a very important role in the perception of its interior space. For the medieval eye, the atmosphere created using the stained glass is almost supernatural, reinforcing the beliefs about the divine nature of light itself.
Even if the Gothic style was appreciated by most, with the cathedrals’ atmosphere giving people a sensation of uplifting and making them feel closer to God , some considered that bringing more light in the church was not necessary. They thought that the best way to connect to God was a place that would silence all the senses and therefore promoted meditation and spirituality. The strong, very interesting, stimulating light of the Gothic cathedral would disturb the people trying to pray, moving the attention from what was truly important. However, cathedrals were trying to do the exact opposite, giving the supernatural a physical form and making the divine message accessible for everyone. The light coming in was not overwhelming, but it was calming and created the perfect space for spiritual engagement and reflection.
Personally, I find that the desire to bring light in the cathedrals is the most important element that led to the development of the Gothic style. Every component of the cathedral and its construction is in a way influenced by Suger’s initial desire. I find very impressive the techniques used and the amount of collective work that went into the creation of medieval cathedrals, as well as the sensibility of the details and the deep meaning behind the symbols, which bring the construction to a higher level. The Gothic Style is, for me, a perfect combination of architecture, engineering and craftsmanship, which arose in a moment in history when it had the opportunity to flourish. If the medieval times have left us with some of the most impressive buildings even today, it is due to the attention to the message they transmit. The true magic of the Gothic cathedral is not the in physical forces that make it stand or even in the rich colours and detailed sculptures, but in the fact that stepping inside one we can travel in time and feel the same way people did thousands of years ago. “Lux Continua” and “Lux Lucent In Tenetris” are still valid today, making the cathedral come to life with every beam of light that passes its colourful windows. The medieval architect found a constantly fascinating force and used it in a way that can still shock us today.
In conclusion, light was the very reason Gothic was born, the need for bigger windows and lighter structures pushing the medieval architect to combine structural elements in a new, innovative way. The structural elements were dominated by verticality, in a physical and spiritual way, bringing into the cathedral not only incredible stability, but also a link between the human and the divine. Light’s importance was more than just aesthetical. The symbolism and deep meaning behind it were important for the medieval people who put more weight in the essence of things than their physical form. Moreover, the windows became bearers of the divine word, serving as an educational mean and playing a very important role in the spread of the religion in the medieval era. Light is, therefore the leitmotif of the gothic architecture, every aspect of the construction being deeply connected with its meaning.