gothic style
.... The result of the Gothic style is distortion as there is no fixed set of proportions in the parts. Such architecture did not only express the physical and spiritual needs of the Church, but also the general attitude of the people of that time. Gothic was not dark, massive, and contained like the older Romanesque style, but light, open, and aerial, and its appearance in all parts of Europe had an enduring effect on the outlook of succeeding generations.4 Gothic architecture evolved at a time of profound social and economic change in Western Europe. In the late eleventh and twelfth centuries trade and industry were revived, particularly in northern Italy and Flanders, and a lively commerce brought about better communications, not only between neighboring towns but also between far-distant regions. Politically, the twelfth century was also the time of the expansion and consolidation of the State. Along with political and economic developments, a powerful new intellectual movement arose that was stimulated by the translation of ancient authors from Greek and Arabic into Latin, and a new literature came into being. Gothic architecture both contributed to these changes and was affected by them.5 The Gothic style was essentially urban. The cathedrals of course were all situated in towns, and most monasteries, had by the twelfth century become centers of communities which possessed many of the functions of civic life. The cathedral or abbey church was the building in which the people congregated on major feast days. It saw the start and the end of splendid and colorful ceremonies, and it held the earliest dramatic performances. The abbey traditionally comprised at least a cloister, a dormitory and a refectory for the monks. But the cathedral also was around a complex of buildings, the bishop's palace, a cloister and the house of canons, a school, a prison, and a hospital. However the cathedral dominated them all, rising high above the town like a marker to be seen from afar.6 The architectural needs of the Church were expressed in both physical and iconographical terms. Like its Romanesque predecessor, the Gothic cathedral was eminently adaptable. It could be planned larger or smaller, longer or shorter, with or without transepts and ambulatory, according to the traditions and desires of each community. It had no predetermined proportions or number of parts, like the Roman temple or the centrally planned church of the Renaissance. Its social and liturgical obligations demanded a main altar at the end of a choir where the chapter and the various dignitaries would be seated, a number of minor altars, and an area for processions within the building.7 There were rarely more than about two hundred persons participating in the service, even though the smallest Gothic cathedral could easily contain that number. The rest of the building simply supplemented this core and provided space for the laity, who were not permitted to enter the choir or sanctuary. Still, after the middle of the twelfth century, the choir was usually isolated by a monumental screen that effectively prevented laymen from even seeing the service, and special devotional books came into use to supply the congregation with suitable subjects of meditation during mass.8 The program of the Gothic church fulfilled iconographical as well as social requirements. The intellectual centers of the Middle Ages had long been associated with the Church, and...