[Paris] Catedral de Notre Dame
The cathedral, dedicated to the Virgin Mary (“Our Lady”), is considered one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture. Several attributes set it apart from the earlier Romanesque style, including its pioneering use of the rib vault and flying buttress, its enormous and colourful rose windows, and the naturalism and abundance of its sculptural decoration.
Rose Window
Rib Vaults
Flying Buttress
- The construction of the cathedral began in 116
- Was largely completed by 1260
- In the 1790s, during the French Revolution, Notre-Dame suffered extensive desecration; much of its religious imagery was damaged or destroyed.
- In the 19th century, the cathedral hosted the coronation of Napoleon
An important innovation in the 13th century was the introduction of the flying buttress.
Before the buttresses, all of the weight of the roof pressed outward and down to the walls, and the abutments supporting them. With the flying buttress, the weight was carried by the ribs of the vault entirely outside the structure to a series of counter-supports, which were topped with stone pinnacles which gave them greater weight.
The buttresses meant that the walls could be higher and thinner, and could have larger windows.
Arrows show forces in vault and current flying buttresses
- The tympanum over the central portal on the west façade, facing the square, vividly illustrates the Last Judgment, with figures of sinners being led off to hell, and good Christians taken to heaven.
- The gargoyles, which were added about 1240, had a more practical purpose. They were the rain spouts of the cathedral, designed to divide the torrent of water which poured from the roof after rain, and to project it outwards as far as possible from the buttresses and the walls and windows where it might erode the mortar binding the stone.
- Amid all the religious figures, some of the sculptural decoration was devoted to illustrating medieval science and philosophy. The central portal of the west façade is decorated with carved figures holding circular plaques with symbols of transformation taken from alchemy. The central pillar of the central door of Notre-Dame features a statue of a woman on a throne holding a sceptre in her left hand, and in her right hand, two books, one open (symbol of public knowledge), and the other closed (esoteric knowledge), along with a ladder with seven steps, symbolising the seven steps alchemists followed in trying to transform ordinary metals into gold.
