FAH101H1 Chapter Notes - Chapter 3-4: Caesura, Suger, Cistercians
Document Summary
North of central paris, innovations of the choir was immediately accepted as the basis of the new style. Unlike the earlier churches, it served as a pattern for church architecture. Most important of the royal burial churches. The glow of windows that lit up the goldsmith"s work was a means of transporting the worshipper beyond earthly beauty towards the divine beauty of christ, the true light". Concept of church building as a symbol of the living church. St-denis as a link between norman and english romanesque two-tower fa ade and french gothic tradition. St-denis marks the caesura w/ battlements = military overtones, symbolizing the kingdom of heaven. A mass amount of piers and arches were needed to support the upper chapels and towers. Transformed the visible surfaces into lively version of shaft-arch system used in other proto-gothic buildings of the 1130s. Many people wanted to retain the old church but suger sought to rebuild the choir.
