Figure 2.16 Stained glass at Sainte Chapelle. The narrow lancet windows create an atmosphere of fragile beauty and envelop everything and everybody in a purplish light.
Artists and Artworks
Medieval workers ranged from unskilled labourers to master craftsmen and sculptors. Many moved about to work on cathedrals in England, Germany and other parts of Europe.
Masons were highly skilled and experts in architecture, building, crafts, design and engineering. Master masons grew increasingly wealthy, powerful and proud. They signed their work with a mark or even a name, like the inscription on the south transept of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris: ‘Master Jean de Chelles commenced this work for the Glory of the Mother of Christ on the second of the Ides of the month of February, 1258.’
Sculptors The skilled Gothic sculptors had probably worked on the major Romanesque churches. Some of the whirls and patterns on the figures at Chartres are similar to those at Autun and Vézelay, but more attention has been given to detail.
The names of individual artists are not known but unique characteristics can be identified.
Figure 2.17 Chartres Cathedral. 34 NEW APPRECIATING ART EUROPE AND THE WORLD
Gothic Cathedrals Chartres Cathedral
Notre Dame de Chartres, about 60 km from Paris, is the best preserved of all French Gothic cathedrals (Fig. 2.17). Built in the 13th-century High Gothic style, most of its sculpture and original stained glass are still intact.
