St. Denis

In the year 1137 Abbot Suger of St. Denis, France envisioned something different for his church. The churches which had been built with Romanesque architectural style were very difficult to light because of the structure of the churches. The nave walls needed support from without so the windows of the churches had to be eliminated. Suger wanted to rebuild the choir of the abbey church of St. Denis with light that would flood the church as if the light came directly from Heaven, so he began painting the 300 year old walls of the original abbey with gold and other precious colors. Suger also added a new façade to the church which included twin towers and a triple portal. He added a circular string of chapels which were lit by large stained-glass
He wanted people to admire the craftsmanship and the noble work of the brightness, and not the expense of the gold. He believed that the noble work of bright would brighten a person’s mind and that the mind would travel through the lights until they reached the true light where Christ was the door. The church was meant to elevate a person’s soul to the realm of God. French craftsmen became very skilled in working with stained-glass windows. The stained-glass windows were decorated with scenes from the Bible, saints, or prophets, which were all related to the Christian faith. The stained-glass rose-window became a feature in most cathedrals. The rose-window was popular throughout the thirteenth century. These windows were decorated with God, Christ or the Virgin in the center and were surrounded by the cosmos. The shimmering, colored light was a representation of the heavenly city of Jerusalem as it was described in the Book of Revelations, as a city of gold and precious stones. An example of this work is the famous Rose Window for Chartres Cathedral, or the Cathedral of
The façades of the Gothic churches had more room for decoration than the facades of the Romanesque churches. Doors were added to the churches. For example, there were three doors with the Gothic architectural style where there had only been one door with the Romanesque architectural style. In the central portal of the west façade of the Reims Cathedral, a stained-glass rose window substitutes the Romanesque tympanum, and the use of a pointed instead of a round arch gives the façade a much lighter look. Instead of the elongated bodies of the Romanesque figures in a shallow space the Gothic figures are more naturalistic. The figures occupy a deeper space, and they have more natural proportions and poses, which make them seem like actual persons. In the Annunciation and Visitation the figures at the bottom of the Reims portal look as if they are in a narrative scene and their space is bridged by shared emotions. It gives the impression that feelings unite them in a common