1

ArtandArchitecture

TheDesignofSpaceinGothicArchitecture

DominiqueBauer

Architecture forms space in various shapes and guises. At times it embodies an

almostpureandconceptual"spaceassuch",empty,nakedandaustere.Itcanthus
displayaspacethatisabstract,cognitiveandgeometrical,whilediscartingconcrete
and qualitative features. By doing so it is able to create an almost palpable
emptiness and independently existing spaciousness. In this context space is not
something to be seen, but something to be thought or possibly geometrized. In
contrast however, it can also appear to be highly sensationalist, ornamental,
organical and visual. Instead of materializing emptiness, architecture can
incorporateasenseofhorrorvacuiandshowavisuallyabundantspace,ifneedbe
working towards the point of repletion. In short, architecture can design to put
thingsclearcutandsomewhatprovacative"spaceassuch",butalso"spaceasvisual
repletion"andeverythinginbetweenthesetwoextremesofthespectre.

"Space as such" in the sense of the embodiment of emptiness is often

connectedwithmodernismand"spaceasvisualrepletion"withforexamplesomeof
the achievements of baroque or rococo architecture. However, it is the aim of this
papertoshowhowbothwaysofspacedesignemergedsimultaneouslyintheGothic
Church (ca. 11401500). From Giorgio Vasari to current research, the Gothic
Church's spatial plan was interpreted in term of a vast spaciousness. When that
spaciousnesswassomehowblocked,thisdisruptionwasfeltasasignofaesthetic
disunity.Thishappenedwhenforexamplechoirscreenswereplacedbetweenthe
nave and the choir from the thirteenth century onwards. To undo this disruption
many of these screen were dismantled during the Renaissance and Counter
Reformation.Astospaceasvisualrepletion,oneonlyneedstorefertothewealthof
sculpture,decoration,colorandliturgicalparaphernaliathatintensifiedthroughout
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thedevelopmentofGothicarchitectureandthatisinmanywaysonthebasisofa
variety of sources linked to the relevance of vision and the individual's sensorial
qualities.

Looking at Gothic architecture from the point of view of space design does
notonlyallowforlinkinganumberofrelevantfieldssurroundingthistheme.Ona
morebasiclevelitenablesustotrytounderstandwhatGoticarchitectureisactually
aboutinthefirstplace.For,whatis"typicallyGothic"?RolandRechtssumsupthe
widelydiverginganswerstothisquestion(p.48):Doesitsparticularityderivefrom
a number of technical innovations, like the cross rib, pointed arch or the flying
buttress?Or,does"Gothic"firstandforemostrefertoanintellectualframework,like
the metaphysics of light. Both possibilities have held out for a very long time in
research. However, Recht and others have today developped different views on
eitheroption.
ThequestionofwhatdeterminestheGothicfromastructuralpointofviewis
much more difficult to answer than might seem at first sight. Recht demonstrates
this through a comparison of two important early examples (119 e.v.) : first, the
SaintDenisnearParis:theChurchthathasbeenregardedsincethe19thcenturyas
thestartofanewstylecalledGothicandthatfurthermoreintheworkofPanofsky
has also been heralded as an architectural achievement on the basis of the
metaphysics of light. Second, the SaintEtienne in Sens that was build from 1140
onwardsandthattoRechtandothersstrikesasthe"mostoriginalmonument"ofits
time. Recht primarilly stresses two things. First, the only way we can assess the
innovativenatureofabuildingis"bythesuccessofthetotalityofthearchitectural
solutionsrespondingtothetotalityoftheproblemsposedbytheprogram".Second,
theprogramwasdeterminednotonlybythewishesofthepatron,butalso"bythe
contingencies of site, materials, workmanship, and financial provisions." In other
words, architecture is not theory in practice, but "the product of setbacks and
experiments,ofborrowingsandcalculations."
Fromthisangle,the"persistentpracticeofattributingtheoriginofthenew
Gothic style to the combination of pointed arches, cross ribs, and flying butresses
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doesnotstanduptoanalysis."Furthermore,noneofthesestructuralelementscan
directlyorexclusivelybeconnectedwithGothicarchitecture.Inthisrespect,Recht
points out to the fact that the pointed arch for example already existed before the
end of the eleventh century. There were already cross ribs being used in England,
France and Italy by 1120. And as to the flying buttresses, it is hard to say when
exactely they occurred, because many of them were replaced in later times when
theirstabilizingrolewasunderstoodbetter.Thus,inordertograsp"theGothic"we
mustfirstandforemostturntothecoherenceofthebuilding,thespatial"effects"of
its structure, the spatial operation of its sculptures and expand, as I will try to
demonstrate,thiscoherencetothesocioliturgicalfunctionofthebuilding.

Very logically related with these findings is subsequently the idea that it is
not possible to simply connect a particular architectural structure with a specific
theological or philosophical program, if only because a building itself is not the
smooth translation of a preconceived theoretical concept. Recht formulates this
positionveryradically(p.119):"Evenifweagreethatallarchitecturehascontent
and that it is perfectly legitimate to study its iconography or iconology, the
propositionofastrictlycausalrelationshipbetweenarchitectureandatheological
idea or a symbolic model is scarcely tenable. Concepts contribute nothing to
architecture." Although I subsrcibe to the idea that architecture is not a clear cut
translation of an idea into a building, I however do think that architecture may
reveal"concepts"inthesenseofattitudes,waysofhowarchitectureandartcould
work, what they could provoke (for example as tools for personal devotion), what
functiontheyhad(inliturgy,henceinecclesiologyandthehermeneuticframework
ofthetime).Inthe"effects"ofitsstructuretheopticaltrackisagoodexamplehere
, in the particular naturalism of its sculpture and decoration lay keys for
understanding what kind of individual, believer, visitor, spectator functioned in
what kind of space, how art worked and related to the world of that spectator. In
otherwords,wemayactuallylearnfromarchitecturehowpeoplewereinvolvedina
building,providedweexpandthecoherenceofthebuildingintothewidercontextof
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specific aspects of liturgy, art, liturgical paraphernalia, relics and the sacraments,
preachinganddevotion,socioeconomicalandevenlegalpracticesinthebuilding.

Toconclude:Whatwehavetoturntoisthecoherence,thesynthesisofthe
building and the "effects" of its structure in the process of designing space. What
kindofspacedesigndoweactuallyhavehereisthequestionthatneedstobeasked
now.

Anabsolute,abstractspace

In Gothic architecture there is on the one hand the accentuated rythmic

succession of uniformous structural units, the bays. This path of uniformity leads
visually (and ecclesiologically) into infinity by the dominant appearance of an
opticaltrackabsentinromanesquearchitecturefromthenavethroughthechoir.
Here,Gothicarchitectureisamechanicalandnotorganicalrepetitionofidentical
units and as a structural skeleton. The "optical track" might indeed be called
"optical", but not for this reason empirical. For, the track is rather cognitive and
abstract, than "sensorial". As will be only very briefly touched upon further in
presentation,thisperspectivaltrackisnotinitiallythatoftheFlemischpaintersand
illuminators that will often appear in the course of this paper, but something that
equally bears the characteristics of the Italian absolute and thus strangely non
contingent point of view of the costruzione legitima. The increasing dominance of
structural elements and rhythms as such, as independent entities in the
construction,andtheintroductionofinfinityinthedesignofspacebothescapethe
sensorialrealm.

Acontingentempiricalspace

Ontheotherhandhowever,Gothicspaceisalsostronglyempirical,sensorial
and contingent. It is also a space subjectively constructed by seeing and by being
seen. I will in first instance go into this aspect of Gothic space design more
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extensively and catch up later with absolute space. The seeing of the Host, of the
crucifix in the choir, whether or not above the choir screen, is soteriologically
integrated into the construction of the optical track. Especially the striking link
betweenvisualisationinthearchitecturalspaceandinliturgicalwritings(thoseon
theEucharist)1exemplifiesthiscontext.
Thosewhoseearealsobeingseen,bythesculpturedfiguresandscenesthat
in their peculiar Gothic naturalism draw the spectator emotionally into the ritual.
This process may arrive at the uncanny point of identification between spectator
andsculpture.AfamousexperienceofRupertofDeutz(10701129)illustratesthis.
In the nave of an unnamed Church, Rupert of Deutz has a peculiar and in the true
senseoftheword"uncanny"experience.Talkingabouthimselfinthethirdperson
herecountstheeventsinthefollowingway:

"HebeheldvisuallyinacertainChurchtheimageoftheSaviournailedtothe
crossatanelevatedspot,thatis,whereitshouldbecostumarilystandsoastobe
displayedtopeopleprayingorofferingreverencetoit.Asheimmersedhisthoughts
init,hesawthisimagecomealive,withafacelikeaking's,withradianteyesanda
gazecompletelyaweinspiring.Andithappenedthat[thefigure]drewitsrighthand
downfromthecrossarmandwithagrand[gesture]madethesignofthecrossupon
the beholder... With his own hands outstreched he was drawn to those hands
attachedtothecross,andlikewisehismouth[clungto]thatmouth,sothatitfinally
seemedthathiswholebodywasstuckontothatotherbody."

1Salientandrepresentativeexamplesare:ThierryofChartres(d.1150),Deseptem

diebus et sex operum distinctionibus; Alanus of Lille, De planctu naturae (between

11601170). Around 1200 it is a common thing to descibe the host in all its
empiricalqualities.Moreover,fromaroundthattime,itbecomesalsocustomaryto
show the host during mass, to make it visible. The practice to place hosts in
monstrances, the emergence of eucharistic devotion, the introduction of Corpus
Christiin1264byUrbanIVandfinally,bythemiddleofthefourteenthcentury,the
customofcarryingthehostarroundinaprocessionallstressthiscommoncontext
ofvisioninliturgyandvisioninarchitecture.
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What Rupert describes here is, according to Elisabeth Jung, his body being
"morphed into the body of Christ and replicating it".2 Interestingly, Rupert relates
thisasanexperienceoftheuncanny.Elaboratingonthisemotionthatissosaliently
articlated by Rupert, allows for situating this aspect of the Gothic space, namely
spacegeneratedbyartadressingthespectator,withinthebroaderrealmofartistic
representation in illumination and painting that might reflect similar situations.
Whatislifelessstone,wood,paintcomestolifeinanactofidentificationwiththe
beholder. In the process the latter is overwhelmed by the uncanny. It is as if the
corporeal boundaries of the beholder are crossed by something that is both
fundamentally different namely "dead" matter3 and yet the same through
identification.Inthisway,thevisualabundanceofGothicspaceisrelatedwithother
instancesofthistypeoftransgression.Itispartandparcelofmomentsinwhichthe
worldrepresentedinstoneorwoodorwithintheconfinementsofaframe,breaks
literarly through the boundaries of the work of art or the material design of
architecture. Illuminations and paintings show a similar picture of the relation
between art and what lies beyond. By doing so they exemplify a distinctively
medieval way of representing empirical, contingent, secular reality. Central to this
"breaking out" is the integration of the viewer and the objectification of seeing in
art.WhathappensinthesculpturesofGothicmonumentsfitsinwiththiswiderand
fundamentalnewdirectionthatistakeninartonamoregenerallevel.Itisprecisely
from this broader evolution we can understand what kind of space the sculptures
generated.

2Jung,J.E.BeyondtheBarrier:TheunifyingRoleoftheChoirScreensinGothic

Churches"TheArtBulletin82,4(2000)622657,632
3Uncannyencounterswithdolls,automataanddoubleswhichareperhapsthe

mostfamousandobviousexamplestoillustratetheuncannyinlatertimes(fromthe
firsthalfofthenineteenthcenturyonwards)derivetheireffectpreciselyfromthe
oppositionbetweendeadandalive,betweenanimateandinanimate,between
matterandspirit.
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BeyondtheframeinFlemischilluminationsandpainting(fromtheBookofhoursof
Jeanned'EvreuxtoHansMemling)4

To make this a bit more clear I would like to show a few examples from
Northern French and Flemish illuminations and Flemish painting from the second
quarterofthefourteenthcenturythroughthesecondhalfofthefifteenthcentury,in
thetimespantheeffectsofGothicspaceontheactofvisionwerefermenting.These
examplescontinuethepeculiarnaturalismandthecapacitiesofthesesculpturesto
generate subjective space and space from a contingent point of view. Whereas
traditionally in Gothic illuminations text and image respect or adhere to the given
planeofthepage,bycontrastintheearlyfifteenthcenturyimagescomeforwardas
fictiveviewsbeyondorbehindtheplaneofthepage,asifseenthroughawindow.In
between these two extremes a number of illuminations show us how art was
abandoning the traditional medieval conception of the painted image. A very
interesting article concerning precisely this matter is one by James Marrow on
symbol and meaning in Northern European Art in the transition from the Late
MiddleAgestotheEarlyRenaissance.
AveryearlyexampleistobefoundintheBookofHoursofJeanned'Evreux
(13251328).TheinnovationsofitsilluminatorJeanPucellethatcanbefoundhere
are highly revealing. First, he introduced what Marrow calls coherent and
measurable spatial settings thus replacing the schematism by threedimensional
indications of organisation. Insubstantial figures are replaced by weighty ones
whichappeartohavephysicalsubstance.Thesefiguresdonotanymoreadhereto
thepageandneitherdotheypeirceit.Pucelle'sfiguresthereforeseemtofloatina
voidresultingfromdenyingtheplane,asifinotherwordsitwouldbenonexistent.
Bydoingso,Pucelleinventsnolessthananewmodeofrepresentation.Thelogicof
thepalpable,weightyfiguresisradicallycarriedthroughwherePucelle'sfiguresas
Marrow says hold up his structures, as if to proclaim that what is solid, and

4presentationofresearchbyMarrow,J.H."SymbolandMeaninginNorthern

EuropeanArtoftheLateMiddleAgesandtheearlyRenaissance"Simiolus16,2/3
(1986)150169.
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thereforereal,mustliterallybesupported.TotakesMarrow'sexampleabitfurther,
bydepictingfiguresthatliterallybreakawayfromtheframe,Pucellethusdrawsthe
empirical realm into artistic representation, much along the lines of the
identification between the viewer and the sculptured image in the Gothic Church.
Furthermore,thetransgressionoftheframeisdepictedasanactofviewing.Some
of the figures that hold up the structure are actually watching the image they
support. In a sophisticated way this type of illuminations reveal the complex
relation between the empirical invading the logic of artistic verisimilitude and the
rolethatisplayedinthisbythespectatorhimself.
Ajumpforwardintimecanshowusthemoreoutspokencontinuationofthe
"principles"foundinPucelle.WithHansMemling(ca14301494)thetransgression
of the frame is substantialized in the difference between the interior and the
exterior of the triptyck, like is te case in the St. John's altarpiece in Bruges (1474
1479)andtheGdanskLastJudgmenttriptyck(14671471) 5.Therepresentationof
thedonorofthetriptyckonitsexteriorisrepresentedintheactofseeingthevision
on the interior. Memling thus depicts in a particularly clear way what Harbison
calledinthisinstancethedifferentlevelsofreality.Theabsorptionoftheempirical
realmintoartisticrepresentationthusembodiestheobjectificationofvisionandin
thissenseconstitutesametalevalofrepresentation.
Lessobviousandmoresophisticated,thetransgressionoftheframeisalsoa
recurrentthemewithJanVanEyck,fromwhoseworkI'llderiveonelastexample:
the Annunciation on the exterior of the Ghent altarpiece. If anything, the
Annunciation immediately draws the attention to spacerepresentation, because of
the general emptiness of the frame. Although it must be said that the figurative
imageryisasimportantandatleastascomplexhereasinallworksofVanEyck,itis
a very clear example of how space can be handled in terms of going beyond the
literal frame and how this transgression again involves the integration of the
sensorialpointofview.

5presentationofresearchbyHarbison,C."VisionsandMeditationsinEarlyFlemish

Painting"Simiolus15,2(1985)87118,
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An interesting interpretation of the Anunciation in which much attention is

given to the issue of space is that of John Ward.6 Ward draws the attention to the
factthatVanEyckcreatedanAnnunciationinwhichthespacedoesnotfittheframe.
As Ward says: "With the dimensions of the space restricted by the size of the
interiorpanell,theVirginandtheangelhadtofilltheirrespectivepanels,becausea
smaller scale would have clashed with that of the lower figures. But there is
insufficientspacetoconstructaroominwhichthefigurescanstandupiftheceiling
mustbethesameheightasthecrossbarofthepictureframe.Toreleasethefigures
from their confinement somewhat, Jan created an ambiguous space, the same way
hewouldcreatealsomultiplekindsoftime(p.213).7Spaceandframedonotfitin
thesensethattheprojectionsofthewall,ceilingandfloorbreakoutoftheframe:
"the wall projects considerable beyond the left side of the frame", "the projected
hightoftheceilingdoesnotmeettheframeand"thereareindicationsthatthefloor
doesnotconnecttotheframe".Againtheworldthatisactuallyrepresentedislarger
thanwhattheframecancontain.
Simultaneouspointsofviewimplyaconcurrenceofdifferent"moments"in
spaceandtime.Thesimultaneousdepictionofvariouspointsofviewinbothtime

6presentationofresearchbyWard,J.L."HiddenSymbolisminJanVanEyck's

Annunciations"TheArtBulletin57,2(1975)196220.
7TheAnnunciationisalsoatypicalexampleofhowthedesignoftheinteriorspace

isultimatelydeterminedasaconstructionthat"suits"thesensorialpointofview.
Theinteriorisaconstructedinterior,andthereforeoftenunqualifiedandhardto
identify.ThissituationcanalreadybefoundintheTresrichesheuresduducduBerry
thatservedasthesourceofinspirationfortheAnnunciationontheGhent
Alterpiece:"thesettinginaroomthatisneitherexplicitelyaChurchnorahome,the
divisionofthespacebyacolumnorframe,thefillingbythefiguresofthespaceso
created...allappeartobederivedfromthisillumination":Ward,209.Otherinteriors
thatseemtoresultfromthesamesensorialconstruction:TheLuccaMadonna,about
whichHarbison,592says:"TheLuccahasbeenerroneouslycalleda"domesticand
unofficial"portrayaloftheVirgin.Nothingcouldbefurtherfromthetruth.Rigid,
erect,formallyposed,theLuccaVirginisenthronedinaverynarrowspace
obviouslymadeonlyforherveneration.Theneatlypairedwindowsontheleftand
nicheontherightaswellaseveryotherfeatureofthespace,contradictany
designationofthisworkastheportrayalofabourgeoisorevensemibourgeois
interior".
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and place can also be found elsewhere in the work of Van Eyck and constituted a
recurrentthemeinFlemishpainting.
Before turning to a few examples that include Gothic architecture, I would
like to show one example of simultaneous narratives occurring in one landscape
thatunifiesthesevarioustemporalpointsofview("thisiswhatwemightseeatthis
moment in the story", this is what occurs afterwards" etc...): The 15201524
Landscape with the temptations of Saint Anthony by Joachim Patinir and Quinten
Metsys.AlthoughthefocusisobviouslyonthelargefiguresSaintAnthonyandthe
incarnationofluxuryinthreeladiesinwaitingvariousscenesfromthelifeofSaint
Anthony are depicted in the background landscape, catching the narrative
developmentofSaintAnthony'sstoryinoneimage.
A very clear example of the same type of representation of temporal
moments with Van Eyck can for example be found in his 1434 Washington
Annunciation.8InthisAnnunciationVanEyckmakesextensiveuseofarchitectural
elements.Foronething,theinteriorismuchmorethanthetraditionalsmallstage
setinminiatures.Moreover,thestructureitselfoftheinteriorwhetherornotbased
upon similar real life churches in Tournai9 expresses a symbolic development in
the guise of a historical evolution. Initially this idea was brought forward by
Panofskyandhasbeengenerallyacceptedbyresearcherstoday.Fromtheceilingto
thefloorweareinfactwalkingupsidedownthroughthehistoryofarchitectureand
symbolically through the transition fom the Old to the New Covenant. The upper
part of the interior is made up of Romanesque elements whereas the lower part
looks like the most recent, Gothic style. The ceiling, clearly in need of repair,
represents the Old Covenant, whereas the Gothic level represents the incarnation
andthustheNewCovenant.
IwouldliketoendthisexcursionintoFlemishpaintingbyonelastexample
that again will take us to the coincidence of the symbolical and historically

8PresentationofresearchbyPurtle,C.J."VanEyck'sWashingtonAnnunciation:

NarrativeTimeandMetaphoricTradition"TheArtBulletin81,1(1999)117125.
9Lyman,Th.W."ArchitecturalPortraitureandJanvanEyck'sWashington

Annunciation"Gesta20,1(1981)263271.
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contingent developments, in casu the development of architecture10 : Robert

Campin'sca1420BethrotaloftheVirgin.11Inthispaintingaclearcutoppositionis
madebetweenthecontemporaryGothicarchitectureevenstillunderconstruction
and the old Romanesque architecture. The former symbolizes the New Covenant
whereas the Romanesque cupola represents the Old Covenant. In this sense and
with all the artists mentioned and others, every moment depicted is a kind is a
momentthatispresentnow.Allpointsofviewareinthatsensepresentmoments.

Liturgyandarchitecture

What can we learn from the simultaneity of spatial and temporal points of
view and the coincidence of the symbolical and contingent reality in trying to
understandthedualGothicspacedesign?
Inordertoanswerthisquestion,itisveryrevealingtoturntotheliturgical
functionoftheGothicChurch.For,thesacramentsandtheliturgicalritualarepart
and parcel of the medieval hermeneutics that I have just explained. Liturgy,
precisely because of its soterological nature and therefore ontological fullness, is
liketheunfoldingofonemomentintoasuccessionofpresentmoments,ofmoments
that are all happening now. In the unfolding of the ritual there is no past and no
future, there is in this sense no ontological loss, but only ontological fullness.
Everythinghasalreadyhappened,nothingiseverover.Liturgyisthecuttingupofa
timeless eschatological moment, for everything was in essence the completion of
time.
Theecclesiasticalbuildingitselfislikethisprocessofunfoldingembodiedin
stone,astheplaceforthetranslationoftherelics,forprocessionsalongthealtars,
as the place of the Eucharist to which again all movement and all the gazes are
drawn,fromthenavethroughthechoir.

10Otherexamples:MelchiorBroederlam,Annunciation(1399),WorkshopofOrosius

Master,CitdeDieu,PagansandChristians(1400)
11Harbison,"RealismandSymbolism",593
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In this respect, the latest research surrounding the critical edition of abbot
Suger's writings by Andreas Speer and Gunther Binding is of utmost importance.
TheideathatabbotSugerwasledbyapreconceivedphilosophicalandaesthetical
program has been thoroughly contested. On the basis of careful study of Suger's
writings, Speer came to a number of conclusions that differ considerably from the
wellknowninterpretationofPanofsky.12Insteadoftheaestheticexpressionofthe
new architecture in the the language of neoplatonism, Suger strikes even in many
respects as the continuator of Karolingian liturgical tradition, in which light
moreover precisely plays an important role, just not in the end of the nineteenth
centuryspiritualistsence.
Speer indeed stresses in various studies that the main concern for abbot
Sugerwasaliturgicalone.All"architectural"descriptionsSugerdoesnotreallytalk
about "architecture in the modern sense of the word" are more or less part of a
liturgical context. To give one example, the translatio of the relics is now
accompaniedbyaprocessionthatinvolvestheentirebuidlingandgivesaliturgical
functiontoallitsparts.TheChurchfunctionsclearlyastheenfoldingofaliturgical
procession in stone, as liturgy in stone. For the same reason, Suger is concerned
about the liturgical continuity between choir and nave which are both involved in
thesameliturgicalandliteralmovementthroughthebuilding.

Perhapsoneofthemoststrikingnoveltiesfromthepointoftheviewofthe
coherence of the building in Gothic architecture is precisely the strong continuity
betweenthechoirandthenave.Onemightevengoasfarastosaythatthisambition
of "smoothening out" the transition between choir and nave constitutes a true
difference between the romanesque architecture and Gothic innovations. In this

12syntheticarticle:Speer,A."IsthereaTheologyoftheGothicCathedral?ARe

readingofAbbotSuger'sWritingsontheAbbeyChurchofSaintDenis"in:
Hamburger,J.F.andBouch,A.M.TheMind'sEye.ArtandTheologicalArgumentin
theMiddleAges.Princeton,2006,6583.Foranextensivebibliography,see:Speer,A.
andBinding,G.(ed.)AbtSugervonSaintDenis.AusgewhlteSchriften:Ordinatio,De
consecratione,Deadministratione.Darmstadt,2008[2000]
 13

respecttheGothicspacegainedakindof"spaciousness"thatwasattributedtothe
stylefromthe15thcenturyonwards.
Whatisallthemoresignificantinthisrespectisthedirectlinkbetweenthe
opticaltrackthatiseffectedbythecontinuitybetweenthechoirandthenaveand
the creation of a space that breaks through the building by means of a vanishing
point. In other words, the smooth structural unity of nave and choir generate a
perspectivalspace.
InthatcontextRecht'sstatement(p.62)that"therepresentationofaChurch
interior constituted the empirical model of "perspective" can be understood. By
reasonofitsform,thesuccessionofbaysleadingtowardstheapsepresentacertain
analogy with the pyramid of perpendiculars "converging" on the vanishing point
which, in costruzione legitima, is the symmetrical principle of the optical pyramid.
The interior of a Church provides the painter with a scene enclosed on five sides
(like a stage) but suggests the extension in depth that the spatial representation
needsinordertoachieveacertaindegreeofverisimilitude."13
It has been mentioned by other scholars that Van Eyck for example "could
workoutarelativelyelaborateperspectivalsystemforthosepaintingsinwhichan
abundance of architectural detail would make the absence of such a system
disturbing, and would simply ignore that system in those paintings in which the
absence would not matter."14 The actual effect of the structural uniformity of the
navechoirtransitionandVanEycktakingthisintoaccountalsocomesforwardin

13Itisinterestingatthispointtomentiontheparticularcapicityoftheinteriorto

drawtheattentiontowhatkindofspaceliesconfinedwithinitsconstruction,a
capacitythathasbeenacknowledgedinotherstudiesdealingwithspaceinother
periods,suchasin:Schweicker,C.DieBildraumgestaltung,dasDekorativeunddas
OrnamentaleimWerkevonEdouardVuillard.Trier,1949,21:"InkeinemFallealso
wirdsichdasVerhltniseineMalerszumRaumalsBildkategorieundBildfaktor
bestimmterundaussagekrftigermanifestiertenalsinseinemVerhaltenbeider
DarstellungdesInterieurs,woderRaumsich"apriori"prsentiert."Statementslike
thesemightalsoapplytoRechtonVanEyckortovariouslinksbetween
architectureandtherepresentationofarchitectureinart.
14Olds,C."AspectandPerspectiveinRenaissanceThought:NicholasofCusaandJan

vanEyck"in:Christianson,G.andIzbicki,Th.M.(ed.)NicholasofCusaonChristand
theChurch.EssaysinMemoryofChandlerMcCuskeyBrooksfortheAmericanCusanus
Society.LeidenNewYorkKln,1996,260.
 14

an example that Recht mentiones one that furthermore stresses Van Eyck's
transgression of the framed representation. Recht mentiones that Van Eyck's The
Virgin in a Church would have revealed the arbitrary nature of the section
represented, when it would have had a rectangular format. "But" Recht States "he
compensates for the loss of architectural coherence, this absence of depth, by the
formatoftheplaneofrepresentation,which,becausethetopofthepaneliscurved,
doessomethingtorestoreanarchitecturaldimensiontotheimage.Thisalsohasthe
effect of diminishing the fragmentary character of the view". Thus the
representationofaGothicChurchinteriordrivestheartisttoatypeofconsistency
andcoherencethatinvolvessomehowthedepictionoftherepetitiousbaystructure
downthroughthechoir.Thisisespeciallyunderlinedbythefactthatinpaintingwe
donotgetfrontalviewsofthechoir,butinsteadthefrontalviewofforexamplean
arcade(p.63,MassforthedeathinLestrsbellesheuresdeNotreDame),theVirgin
(Van Eyck, The Virgin in a Church) or crucifixion and sacraments (Rogier van der
Weyden, The seven sacraments) and a diagonal view on the architectural
backgroundthatrunsfromthenavetothecenterofthechoir.Alsotheseexamples
from Flemish painting have their parallels in illuminations. For example, in the ca
1475BookofHoursofMaryofBurgundy,onecanfindasimilardepictionofthenave
as with Van Eyck and Van der Weyden.15 The point of view from which the
architecturalbackgroundisconstructedisdictatedbytheuniformoussuccessionof
baysworkingtowardsthecenterofthechoir.Insomecases,likethatofMassforthe
deadandVirgininaChurchtothepointbutnofurtherthatthecenterofthechoir
isalmostgettingoutofsight.
"Theenhancementofthevisual"(p.121)constitutesanextremelyplausible
frameworkforunderstandingandarticulatingthecoherenceoftheGothicChurch.
RechtbringsthispointtotheforeparticularlywhentallkingabouttwoChurchesin
particular: Sens and the NotreDame in Paris. About Sens, Recht points out to the
following(p.212):"InadoptingthelongitudinalcharacteroftheRomanbasilicait
accentuated and, even more, enriched it in a series of developments that led to

15BookofHoursofMaryofBurgundy,Viena,sterreichischeNationalbibliothek,ms

1857,f.14v,reproducedin:Harbison,103.
 15

highlyoriginalcreations.Whetherornottranseptswereadded,litbyacupolaabove
thecrossing,whetherornotanambulatorysurroundedthechoir,whetherthenave
had a flat or vaulted ceiling above two, three, or even four stories, in every case,
once past the treshold of the west door, the eye was drawn in only one direction,
towardthealtaratthegeometricalcenterofthesanctuary,attheotherendofthe
buidling..Weneedtohavethisgeneralconceptioninmindifwearetoevaluatethe
contributions of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries." In this rare moment that
Recht is willing to give a more general assesment of the logic behind the Gothic
construction, what could be called the optical track is brought forward as the
unifyingframeworkforunderstandingbothwhatdeterminedthecoherenceandthe
directionGothicarchitecturewastaking.
What Recht in fact points out is that the structure of the Church is the
embodiment in stone of the movement of the eye towards the altar: the rhythmic
progression of regular bays thanks to the systematic introduction of rib vaulting
towardsthechoiralsohadtheeffectofmakingtheviewersdirecttheirgazeatthe
choir. The Gothic Church is in many respects the further elaboration and
radicalisationofthisopticalambition.Rechtbringsthisveryexplicitelytothefore
when he analyses the SaintEtienne of Sens and the NotreDame in Paris. In these
monuments,particularstructuralchoicesmadepreciselyenhancetheprevailanceof
theopticaltrack.
The importance of the example of Sens lays in the fact that stressing the
opticaltrackimpliesstressingtherhythmicbaysuccession.Equallyimportantisthe
factthatstressingthissuccessioneffectsenhancingtheinfrastructureintermsofa
"skeleton".InSens,Rechtstates(p.117):"Thecrossribsandtransverseridgeribs
arecomposedofthreetorusmoldingsrestingonadosseret,whichhastheeffectof
underlining the arc optically, while it lightens the form" which is obviously how
skeletonizing the infrastructure works. "By contrast, the transverse ribs have a
certain weightiness, which is also element of the "skeletonizing proces". The
absense of a projecting boss [cl de voute saillante] has a visual consequence of
some importance; it reduces perception of a median axis to the bay as moreover
painted by Van Eyck and Van der Weyden for example and so augments the
 16

importanceofitsinfrastructure."Again,theinfrastructureseemstogainstructural
independence,asdoinSensfurthermoretheplinths[plinthes,socles]andabacuses
[abaques].
TheexampleoftheNotreDameshowstheambitionofcreatingatransition
oraviewfromthechoirtothenave(p.123)"withoutencounteringorobstacleor,
alternatively,beingrushed...Ingeneral,thechoirenjoysadifferentstatusfromthe
nave,butatthesametimethenaveisthespacewhichvisuallyproclaimsthechoir
tocome,ansoitcannotberealizedindependentlyofthechoir.TheNotreDamein
Parisisacaseinpoint."Theinterestingthingaboutthechoirandthenaveinthis
monumentisthatthechoirismadeintothevisualprolongementofthenavebythe
uniformityinthedeployementofthecolumsinthetwopartsoftheChurch.
It was in the course of this process that a space was generated that
introduced infinity into the material confinement of the building. So, whereas the
empirical space broke through frames, wood and stone, abstract space broke
throughtheChurch'sinterior.
Inordertoadresstheirrelation,withinthecontextoftheGothicChurchas
liturgy in stone and the wider framework of artistic representation of space in
illuminations and painting, we first need to take a brief look at how the matter of
transcendentspacewasdealtwithinhistoriography.

Theideaofaninfinitespace,transcendingthesensorialandvisualworldhas
deep roots in the historiography of Gothic architecture. However, the opposition
materialspiritual,visiualsensorialfromwhichtheattentionforsuchtranscendent
spaceoriginateddidhowevernotresultfromamedieval,butfromanineteenthand
earlytwenthiethcenturycontext.
In 1915, the German critic Adolf Behne describes in an article in the
KunsgewerbeblattthefamoussocalledGlashaus,adomemadeofcolorfullglassby
his friend and expressionist architect Bruno Taut for the Werkbund exposition in
Cologne in 1914. He does so using a terminology that in many ways sums up the
waymedievalGothicarchitecturewasalsoconceivedatthetime.Thequoterunsas
follows: "The longing for purity and clarity, for glowing lightness, crystalline
 17

exactness,forimmateriallightnessandinfinitelivenessfoundinglassameansofits
fulfilmentinthismostbodiless,mostelementary,mostflexible,material,richestin
meaning and inspiration, which like no other fuses with the world. It is the least
fixedofmaterialstransformedwitheverychangeoftheatmosphere,infinetelyrich
in relations, mirrorring the "below" in the "above", animated, full of spirit and
alive."16 With the mentioning of "purity", "clarity", Immaterial ", "the least fixed of
materials lightness", the least fixed of materials thus formed with every change of
theatmosphere,Behne'svaluationofTaut's"GlassArchitecture"isatthesametime
anassesmentoftheGothiccathedral,thatBrunoTauthimselfsawas"apreludeto
GlassArchitecture".17Expressionistarchitects,artistsandwriterswereattractedto
theuseofstainedglassandtheplayofcoloredlightinGothicarchitecture.Theydid
so because the wanted to claim the autenticity of spiritual reality against
materialism, organisational freedom against fixed visual structures in architecture
and elsewhere and a utopic sense of community and even anarchism against the
alienation of the industrial bourgois society. They saw their sort of mystical
aspirations to the spiritual realm precisely reflected in Gothic architecture. Gothic
architecture was in this context the embodiment of a spiritual antimaterialistic
sense of reality. In this sense, it articulated an almost invisible, untangeable and
transcendentspace,asvolatileasthelightthatplayssuchacentralrole.

The context of this antimaterialist and antipositivist concept of Gothic

architecture constitutes the ground for a impressive number of studies that
appearedduringthefiftiesandthatwouldmarkthehistoriographyonthesubject.
Studies by Frankl, Sedlmayer, Panofsky, von Simson and Jantzen authors Roland
Recht presents in the first part of his study to a great extent interpret Gothic
architecture within this framework. Frankl for example states that the essence of

16Behne,A."GedankenberKunstundZweckdemGlashausegewidmet"

Kunsgewerbeblatt,n.s.XXVII,October1915,4,quotedin:HaagBletter,R."The
InterpretationofGlassDreamExpressionistArchitectureandtheHistoryofthe
CrystalMetaphor"JournaloftheSocietyofArchitecturalHistorians40,1(1981)20
43,34.
17HaagBletter,R.o.c.,20.
 18

the Gothic resides in its inherent intellectual and spiritual features. To Sedlmayer,
the cathedral was an image of the heavenly Jeruzalem. Jantzen takes the Gothic
cathedral as an absolute model of a better world. In his Kunst der Gotik he talks
abouttheaspirationsofGothicarchitectsinaterminologythatisinlinewiththatof
Adolph Behne. These architects strive to "dematerialize" the building:
"'Weighlessness', 'verticality', 'invisible support','diaphanous structure' areamong
the terms he deploys to denote the characteristics of this art." (Recht, p.30) And
most famously of course there is Panofsky who, like Sedlmayer and von Simson
situates the true content of Gothic architecture in the theology of light. As Recht
clearly indicates, current research will precisely attack the underlying anti
materialist and spiritual basis to this studies. Instead of a "dematerialisation", he
talksoftoday'sresearchasanattemptto"rematerialise"Gothicarchitecture.
Althoughthebattleagainstinterpretingspaceinapolarized"spiritualversus
material"contextmayhavebeenconcludedintheadvantageof"rematerialisation",
this does however not mean that the legacy of this historiographical tradition has
playedoutitsroleorthatclearcutpositionsaretakenagainstitincurrentresearch.
Echosofthisdebatestillsometimeshauntcurrentdiscussions.Togiveoneexample,
Willibald Sauerlnder critices Jean Bony's French Gothic Architecture of the twelfth
andthirteenthcenturies(1983)forbeingtomuchfocusedonwhatJacquelineJung
calls when talking about Bony's work "the bare bones of Gothic architecture,
unencumberedbytheclutterofliturgicalperiphernalia"anddisplaying"amodern
reverenceforcleanandsteadyrhythmsinmedievalinteriors".18

Incontemporaryresearchitisimportanttospeakaswellofthe"barebones"
asaboutparaphernaliaandsculptures,becausetheyarerelatedwithtwocoexisting
waysofdesigningspace,andtheonecannotbeabstractedfromtheother.Itisthe

18Jung,J.E.BeyondtheBarrier:TheunifyingRoleoftheChoirScreensinGothic

Churches"TheArtBulletin82,4(2000)622657,2.Jungrefersto:Sauerlnder,W.
"ModGothic",reviewofFrenchGothicArchitecturebyJeanBony,NewYorkReview
ofBooks31,7(1984)4345,45.
 19

double angle of both liturgy and artistic representation that, as I have hoped to
demonstrate,offerusaninterestingangleforactuallydoingso.
By way of conclusion, I would like to take a look at the concurrence of
absolute,abstractwithcontingent,empiricalspacefromthedoubleangleofliturgy
andartisticrepresentation.InFlemishpainting,architecturalstructuresenfoldthe
essential, timeless or "ontologically full moment" in instances of identical
simultaneous presence. At the same time and during this process, they take apart
the exemplary, edifying, narrative in separate sequences. It is important to
understand that this fragmentation of the narrative is part and parcel of the
integrationoftheempiricalrealmwithinartashasbeensaid,whenartbrokeout
of its frame it was equally invaded by the demands of empirical verisimilitude.
This invasion of empirical verisimilitude therefore implied the
representationinartofthecontingentpointofviewpreciselywithinthecontextof
anexemplarynarrative.Averyfineexampleofthiskindofartisticrepresentationis
offered by Hans Memling's The Adoration of the Magi (14791480) in which the
various (temporal) sequences of the narrative nativity, epiphany and purification
andpresentationinthetemplearedepictedasthreeviewsfromdifferentangleson
thesamefragmentaryarchitecturalstage.19
The Gothic interior does the same and displays the same paradoxes. Its
structure takes up the entire space as both an organisational principle in terms of
material space design and the enfolding of an exemplary narrative. This
combinationagaincanbeaccountedforinpaintings,asinDirkBouts'sTriptyckof
the Life of the Virgin (1445). This triptyck, consisting of four samesize panels
depictscrucialmomentsinthelifeofMary:theAnnunciation,theVisitation,Nativity
and the Epiphany. Every image is caught in the painted frame representing an
arcade, the four of them together forming a gallery. The arcades are a "frame
withinaframe"thusagainproblematizingtheboundariesbetweentheworkofart,
its objectification and what lies beyond. Especially in the first panel this theme is

19Ihavenotfurtherdealtwiththeissueoffragmentaryarchitecturalstructures,

eclecticstructures,ruinesoredificesunderconstructionandtheinterior/exterior
themethatplaysapartinalltheseinstances.
 20

carried through explicitely. Whereas in Van Eyck's Virgin in a Church the actual
frameofthepaintingcontributestothecoherenceofthecomposition,inthispanela
painted arcade does the trick. The curvature of the arcade coincides with the
curvatureofthevaultoftheinteriorMaryissitting,thusunifyingthepaintedframe
withwhatthespectatorseesasifthroughawindow.
Preciselyhereinliesasomehowunsettlingeffect.Especiallyincontrastwith
the other arcades that solely funcion as stage like windows offering a view on the
story,itnotclearinthefirstpannelwherethepainting"stops"and"beyond"begins.
InMemling'sAdorationoftheMagiitwasthesimultaneityofpointsofviewwithin
theenfoldingofsacredhistorythatexemplifiedthedualdesignofspace.Hereitis
the blurring of the boundaries between the worlds within and outside the frame
that again introduces contingent space into the literarly overarching exemplary
narrative. Earlier in this presentation this kind of breaching the boundaries had
already been analyzed in terms of empirical verisimilitude and thus of the
contingentpointofviewinvadingartisticrepresentation.
Inspacedesign,thismovementisarticulatedinarchitecturebehavinglikea
materialprincipleoforganisation.Agoodexampleofhowthisworkscanagainbe
foundinart,morepreciselyinVanEyck'sChancellorRolinandtheMadonna.Inways
comparable to Memling's Adoration of the Magi and Bouts's triptyck, architecture
functionsalsointhismasterpiecebyVanEyckasaframeworkofunification.Inhis
interpretationofthepainting,UweFlechnerforexamplepointsoutinthissenseto
the organisational function of the arcades and the bridge in passing from Rolin to
theMadonnaandfromforegroundtobackground.20

20Flechner,U."DerGottestaatalsVedute.JanvanEyck's"MadonnadesKanzlers

NicolasRolin"ArtibusetHistorie17,33(1996)133158,135:"Die
BildkunstelerischeGanzheitderGemlderwirdindesdurchdieperspektivistische
Raumgestaltung,durchdasMotivderbergreifendenArkadus,daslandschaftliche
KontinuumsowiedurchdiezusammenfassendeLichtfhrunggewahrleistet.Vor
allemaberdasMorivderBrckevermaginZentrumderKompositiondiePolaritt
desszenischenBildaufbauszuberwinden...sodanichtnurdierechteunlinke
SeitedeskompositorischenGefgessondernauchVorderundHintergrund
miteinanderinBeziehunggesteztwerden."
 21

Inthisrespectitisrevealingtorefertothesimilarroleplayedbytheopen
windowsinthealreadymentionedGhentalterpieceAnnunciation.Inbothpaintings
avastspaceneedstobebridged.Thetwoworksdisplayoppositetypesofspace:the
voidintheGhentaltarpieceandtheabundantvastnessthatinfactshowsmorethan
can actually be seen from one point of view in Chancellor Rollin and the Madonna.
Whatisrelevantinthiscontextisthattheinteriorofthearcadesandthewindowin
the furthermore undefinable interior of the Ghent Alterpiece operate as
architectural structures that bridge space, and that they have an outspoken
organizationalroleinthatrespect.EspeciallyinthecaseoftheRollinpainting,the
arcadesasacompositionallinkbetweentheforegroundandthebackgroundwhich
constitutesafundamentalofcompositionalunityinapaintingunderlinesthis.
IntheGhentAlterpiece,ChancellorRolinandtheMadonnaandinthisrespect
alsointheWashingtonAnnunciation,bridgingmaterialspacealsoimpliesbridging
temporaltime:thesymbolic"timelesstime"ofthetransitionfromtheOldCovenant
to the New Covenant is not only caught in the guise of the history of architecture
from the ceiling to the floor, like in the Washington Annunciation. It is also
etablishedincrossinganinterior.Thespacecrossedisneveracompletevoidone
onlyneedstothinkoftheextremelycomplexiconographyoftheattheatfirstvery
sober Ghent Altarpiece Annunciation. Paradoxically, the objects that precisely as
symbols bear an inherent not a contextual iconographical meaning only "make
sense" within a space that precisely expresses its own contingency. It is as if van
Eyck's,throughatensionbetweenatimelessandatemporalnarrative,carriesthe
objectificationofvisionthecontingentpointofviewthroughintheobjectification
of contingent of time and space.21 The latter again underlines the invasion of
empiricalverisimilitudeintoartisticrepresentation.

21InhisinterpretationoftheGhentAltarpieceAnnunciation,JohnWardpointsout

totheroleofthespatialorganisationascontributingtothemeaningofthework(p.
206)ashefurtherondemonstrateswhenheforexamplestates:"(myunderlining)
Inonesensethemixture[ofGothicandRomanesqueelementsinMary'sroom]
suggeststheNewJeruzalemofRevelation21,and"theultimateabsorptionofthe
wholepresentandthewholepastinthefulfillmentoftheLastDays"asPanofsky
remarks.Butinanothersensethevariouspartsofthearchitecturefunctionin
 22

It is precisely this paradoxical and unresolvable tension between the

symbolically charged object and contingent space that emerges within the Gothic
Church in the tension between abstract/absolute space and contingent/sensorial
space. It pertains to the paradoxical core of Gothic space design that liturgical
paraphernalia, relics, the materially fixed stages in liturgical processions and the
various liturgical moments in a more general sense, increasingly function as
symbolicalentitieswithinaframeworkofcontingency.
This fits in with the idea that in fact the vanishing point introduces
temporality in its track as well as an actual monoscopic point of view the
contingent,sensorialpointofviewinthispresentation.Theunfoldingofatimeless
narrative might might thereforeembryoniclly at this stage22 contain the seeds of
thefragmentationofnarrativesintofragmentedpointsofview.
Maybe the latter finding exemplifies one again an aspect of the empirical
verisimilitudeinvadingtherepresentationoftranscendenceitselfinthevanishing
pointinthechoirandthecrucifixmaterializingit:theintroductionofthetemporal
into the timeless implied the introduction of the contingent point of view, of the
spectatorintotimelessreality.23

contrastwithoneanotherandincoordinationwiththetemporaldevelopmentof
thedrama."
22whichwillleadtofillingchurcheswithartthatisdetachedfromitsplaceina

liturgicaltrack,displayingthesamespaceforobjectsaswilloccurrinmusea,
collectionsandcabinetsetc.
23Itisinterestingtonotethatthisqualificationoftherelationbetweenspectator

andspacealsofinditsparallelintherelationbetweenthespectatorandthelinear
perspectivespaceofthecostruzionelegitima.Thecontradictionofthe"Archimedian
pointofview"mightrevealasimilarinvasionofthecontingencyinandabsolute
present.Anextremelyinterestingarticleinthisrespectis:Massey,L.
"AnamorphosisthroughDescartesorPerspectivegoneAwry"Renaissance
Quarterly50,4(1997)11481189whostatesthat(p.11591160)referingtoK.
Harries)(myunderlining):"TheverynatureofDescrates'sprojecttofindan
Archimedianpointofviewcontradictsthepossibilityoffindingsuchapoint,which
byhisowndefinitioncannotbeconceivedasapointatall.Infact,Descartes'ssearch
isconductedagainstthelimitinganddistortingpowerofthemonoscopicpoint.
Doubtimpliespossibilityofotherviewpoints.Recognisingdifferencespresumesa
kindoftranscendental,mediatingmetaview,nottiedtoanyperspectivally
circumscribed,embodiedsubject."
 23