The Case of Rouen Cathedral: An Art Historical Detective Story (original) (raw)
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The Journal of Sciences and Arts - Helwan University , 2019
After the Second World War, many of the stained-glass artworks of the French Gothic cathedrals, which were the general and distinctive form of the cathedral from the inside, were found to have been destroyed and could no longer, be restored. After, the old crashed stained-glass windows were replaced with white glass panels, a new problem began to appear, as the amount of lighting inside the cathedral became very strong, it became obvious that there was a visual defect with a negative impact on the spiritual atmosphere that used to characterize the place. Hence, forward-thinking priests called for the opening of the churches to renowned modern artists to make a new revival of the aesthetic role of both ancient and modern cathedrals; thus, modern artists of this era had a major role in this issue; the strange about this was not the redesigning of stained glass in these cathedrals, the strange issue in here was the redesigning within the vision and on the hands of the modern-day artists who were famous for their spirit of rebellion against all traditions and known for their innovation in the language of visuals, which was rejected in form and core in the design and the application of sacred art in general, in all Christian worship buildings; this religious tolerance reached its climax when atheists artists or whom they belong to different faith took part in these works inside the cathedrals. On one hand, the research sheds light on this period, the impact of this openness and religious tolerance on the revival of ancient religious architecture; on the other hand, it explores the beginning of the change in the sacred art's features in light of modern art; as well as the mutual influences between the aesthetics of glass arts and the styles of modern artists in the holy architecture. Although many opinions were not welcoming such experiences, these going-forward steps by the Catholic Church, especially in Europe, have became wider and continuous toward the employment of modern art. Therefore, the research follows up these experiments' influence on more stained glass contemporary art treatments in old cathedrals in other regions of Europe; between modern and contemporary, the researcher uses the historical, critical and analytical methods on these experiments, visually and aesthetically. The research concludes some results that may be useful in local experiments, as there are many ancient holy places - Christian and Islamic - in Egypt in which a redesign for their ruined surfaces of stained glass can be applied, which may restore the original function of these surfaces, while conserving the character of this kind of buildings at the same time of reviving its spiritual and aesthetic role. Translated to English by: Adham Allam https://independent.academia.edu/adhamallam1 adhamallam2001@gmail.com
The Development of Stained Glass in Gothic Cathedrals
Stained glass is arguably one of the most important aspects of Gothic cathedrals. As its popularity rose, mainly during the mid-12 th century, the increased presence of stained glass presented major changes to the way the general populace was learning about religion. The windows became illuminated visual sermons of biblical stories, which may have had an even greater impact than the spoken word of the priest. This paper focused primarily on the stained glass windows and architectural styles employed in five gothic buildings in France, each having their own unique and notable attributes pertaining to the development of stained glass windows. By looking at the architectural advancements shown in these structures built during the gothic time frame, we are able to see the impact of the widespread desire for increased height and light within these types of buildings on the gothic cathedral.
Anthropogenic Pollution, 2021
The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of windows in the architecture facade of Notre Dame Cathedral in France. One of the important elements of architecture facade is window. It is mainly located in the facade of the building depending on its condition. Window in some cases interferes with the performance and in other cases contributes to the aesthetics of architecture. But given the minimalist architecture of Cathedral churches in urban contexts, the landscape of the windows is more colorful than other functions. The research method is descriptive-survey. So, the statistical samples are four traditional Notre Dame Cathedral churches that have windows with special motifs in the facades. These samples were selected in a targeted manner to examine their windows. Research findings indicate that the windows of Notre Dame Cathedral in France have three important functions due to their place of worship. These three tasks are function, beauty, and identity. These three components are function, beauty, and identity, which due to the religious values in this architecture, the identity role of windows is more prominent than other components. The root of this prominence is in the Christian view of the worship space.
Normandy is today one of the areas of France that retains the largest group of ancient stained glass. At the beginning of the XIXth century, an important number of windows moved to the art market and Rouen was particularly affected by this phenomenon. The example of Rouen cathedral is well documented and allow to follow the journey of a medieval stained glass, from the windows of the church to the collector. The painted glass was removed from its original location after a restoration, then stolen by the glass painter in charge. He transformed an hagiographic stained glass into a small royal portrait, much more adapted to the market requirements. Then ready to be selled, this work went to the parisian market, in the hands of art dealers who had connections with americans collectors. This communication will retrace the journey of this stained glass, which became the property of the famous William Hearst.