ellapronkraft.
2009-08-25 Chartres, Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Chartres, Eure-et-Loir, Centre 02
Construction of the present cathedral
On 10 June 1194, another fire caused extensive damage to Fulbert's cathedral. The true extent of the damage is unknown, though the fact that the lead cames holding the west windows together survived the conflagration intact suggests contemporary accounts of the terrible devastation may have been exaggerated. Either way, the opportunity was taken to begin a complete rebuilding of the choir and nave in the latest style. The undamaged western towers and façade were incorporated into the new works, as was the earlier crypt, effectively limiting the designers of the new building to the same general plan as its predecessor. In fact the present building is only marginally longer than Fulbert's cathedral.
One of the unusual features of Chartres cathedral is the speed with which it was built – a factor which helped contribute to the consistency of its design. Even though there were innumerable changes to the details, the plan remains remarkably consistent. The major change occurred six years after work began when the seven deep chapels around the choir opening off a single ambulatory were turned into shallow recesses opening off a double-aisled ambulatory.[11]
Australian architectural historian John James, who made a detailed study of the cathedral, has estimated that there were about 300 men working on the site at any one time, although it has to be acknowledged that our knowledge of working practices at this time is somewhat limited. Normally medieval churches were built from east to west so that the choir could be completed first and put into use (with a temporary wall sealing off the west end) while the crossing and nave were completed. Canon Delaporte argued that building work started at the crossing and proceeded outwards from there,[12] but the evidence in the stonework itself is unequivocal, especially within the level of the triforium: the nave was at all times more advanced than ambulatory bays of the choir, and this has been confirmed by dendrochronology.
The history of the cathedral has been plagued by more theories than any other, a singular problem for those attempting to discover the truth. For example Louis Grodecki argued that the lateral doors of the transept portals were cut through the walls at a later date,[13] and van der Meulan that they had wanted to rebuild the western portals (then only 50 years old).[14] None of these theories refer back to the actual stonework, and it is only when you have done so, as John James did exhaustively in 1969, that you realize that the construction process was in fact simple and logical.
It is important to remember that the builders were not working on a clean site but would have had to clear back the rubble and surviving parts of the old church as they built the new. Nevertheless, work progressed rapidly. The south porch with most of its sculpture was installed by 1210, and by 1215 the north porch had been completed and the western rose installed.[15] The nave high vaults were erected in the 1220s, the canons moved into their new stalls in 1221 under a temporary roof at the level of the clerestory, and the transept roses were erected over the subsequent two decades. The high vaults over the choir were not built until the last years of the 1250s, as has just been discovered.[16] The cathedral was then dedicated in 1260 by King Louis whose coat of arms was painted over the apsidal boss.
Each arm of the transept was originally meant to support two towers, two more were to flank the choir, and there was to have been a central lantern over the crossing – nine towers in all. Plans for a crossing tower were abandoned in 1221 and the crossing was vaulted over. Work on the remaining six towers continued at a slower pace for some decades, until it was decided to leave them without spires (as at Laon Cathedral and elsewhere). The cathedral was consecrated in 1260, in the presence of King Louis IX.
2009-08-25 Chartres, Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Chartres, Eure-et-Loir, Centre 02
Construction of the present cathedral
On 10 June 1194, another fire caused extensive damage to Fulbert's cathedral. The true extent of the damage is unknown, though the fact that the lead cames holding the west windows together survived the conflagration intact suggests contemporary accounts of the terrible devastation may have been exaggerated. Either way, the opportunity was taken to begin a complete rebuilding of the choir and nave in the latest style. The undamaged western towers and façade were incorporated into the new works, as was the earlier crypt, effectively limiting the designers of the new building to the same general plan as its predecessor. In fact the present building is only marginally longer than Fulbert's cathedral.
One of the unusual features of Chartres cathedral is the speed with which it was built – a factor which helped contribute to the consistency of its design. Even though there were innumerable changes to the details, the plan remains remarkably consistent. The major change occurred six years after work began when the seven deep chapels around the choir opening off a single ambulatory were turned into shallow recesses opening off a double-aisled ambulatory.[11]
Australian architectural historian John James, who made a detailed study of the cathedral, has estimated that there were about 300 men working on the site at any one time, although it has to be acknowledged that our knowledge of working practices at this time is somewhat limited. Normally medieval churches were built from east to west so that the choir could be completed first and put into use (with a temporary wall sealing off the west end) while the crossing and nave were completed. Canon Delaporte argued that building work started at the crossing and proceeded outwards from there,[12] but the evidence in the stonework itself is unequivocal, especially within the level of the triforium: the nave was at all times more advanced than ambulatory bays of the choir, and this has been confirmed by dendrochronology.
The history of the cathedral has been plagued by more theories than any other, a singular problem for those attempting to discover the truth. For example Louis Grodecki argued that the lateral doors of the transept portals were cut through the walls at a later date,[13] and van der Meulan that they had wanted to rebuild the western portals (then only 50 years old).[14] None of these theories refer back to the actual stonework, and it is only when you have done so, as John James did exhaustively in 1969, that you realize that the construction process was in fact simple and logical.
It is important to remember that the builders were not working on a clean site but would have had to clear back the rubble and surviving parts of the old church as they built the new. Nevertheless, work progressed rapidly. The south porch with most of its sculpture was installed by 1210, and by 1215 the north porch had been completed and the western rose installed.[15] The nave high vaults were erected in the 1220s, the canons moved into their new stalls in 1221 under a temporary roof at the level of the clerestory, and the transept roses were erected over the subsequent two decades. The high vaults over the choir were not built until the last years of the 1250s, as has just been discovered.[16] The cathedral was then dedicated in 1260 by King Louis whose coat of arms was painted over the apsidal boss.
Each arm of the transept was originally meant to support two towers, two more were to flank the choir, and there was to have been a central lantern over the crossing – nine towers in all. Plans for a crossing tower were abandoned in 1221 and the crossing was vaulted over. Work on the remaining six towers continued at a slower pace for some decades, until it was decided to leave them without spires (as at Laon Cathedral and elsewhere). The cathedral was consecrated in 1260, in the presence of King Louis IX.