West Façade Porches in the Churches from the Middle of 15th to Early 16th Century in France. Late Gothic in the Search for New Forms
Keywords:
Late Gothic style, French architecture, St. Maclou at Rouen, Notre-Dame at Alençon, Notre-Dame at CaudebecAbstract
The two-tower façade typology is charactericstic for Gothic on the whole, but during the Gothic period some constructions appeared which were beyond the common tendency — for example, the churches of Saint Urbain at Troyes and Notre-Dame at Sees built during the second half of the 13th c. These churches have an additional raw of bays which continue the nave and aisles. For the lack of a better term we’d rather call it “porch”.
Façades with porches became popular only in the late Gothic period, and the most interesting and original exemplars were erected in Normandy — the signifi cant art and culture center in the second half of the 15th c. It is possible to defi ne several churches, such as St. Maclou at Rouen, Notre-Dame at Alençon and Notre-Dame at Caudebec (all three monuments were built in the beginning of the 16th c.) as a group of churches with multifaceted porches. Within the framework of the research we refer to several principal features of Gothic as an architectural style. Firstly, it is necessary to fi nd out whether the façade composition kept unchanged, in particular, as regards the principle of storey dividing. Secondly, whether the introduction of the porch transforms the whole composition or only the lower storey, and what happens to the façade elements such as rose window, balustrade, gables, etc. We also should defi ne the right position for the façades with porches in the whole system of Gothic architecture.
One can fi nd that there is the right horizontal-vertical balance in St. Maclou, the façade composition being clear with the main principles observed. But in Notre-Dame at Alençon the porch annihilates the façade as an element. In the Notre-Dame at Caudebec the porch is embraced with stone again and the façade comes back to its original structure. We consider it the close of development of the porch typology and of the Late Gothic on the whole.
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