The Gothic

Churches reached for the sky, and walls dissolved into coloured light.

Gothic began in France at the abbey church of Saint-Denis around 1140. Pointed arches, rib vaults and flying buttresses made it possible to build high and to replace walls with great windows of glass. The cathedrals of Chartres, Paris and Reims became images of the heavenly Jerusalem.

Sculpture and painting grew softer and more human. In Italy Giotto gave his figures weight and emotion, and in Siena Duccio and Simone Martini painted elegant images in gold and jewel-like colours.

Towards the end of the period a courtly culture spread across Europe – International Gothic – with slender figures, rich fabrics and detailed studies of nature. Gothic lived on for a long time in northern Europe, and in Swedish churches wall painting continued into the 16th century.