Among the architectural innovations made by these builders, the flying buttress played a pivotal role: by efficiently removing thrust, concentrated at specific points on the upper walls of Gothic buildings, to far-removed supports, the flying buttress made it possible to transform, over the course of the late-twelfth …

What is an archetype? A model for something. What is special about the Amiens cathedral? It is an archetypical Gothic cathedral. He simplified, clarified, and unified the plan of Amiens Cathedral.

what feature distinguishes a German hall church from a French Gothic basilica? the vaults are all the same height. what artistic tradition is evident in Sienese painting of the early fourteenth century?

The flying buttress originally helped bring the idea of open space and light to the cathedrals through stability and structure, by supporting the clerestory and the weight of the high roofs.

Notre Dame cathedral is famous for architectural elements such as its flying buttresses, which are a form of structural support that became popular in the Gothic period of architecture. At Notre Dame, those windows are made, famously, of stained glass.

Gothic cathedrals like Notre Dame were tall and spacious, defined by the extraordinary amount of light that permeated through massive stained-glass windows contained within pointed arches. This towering architecture was meant to symbolize humanity reaching toward God, and pointed arches made it possible.

A pointed arch, ogival arch, or Gothic arch is an arch with a pointed crown, whose two curving sides meet at a relatively sharp angle at the top of the arch.

While the Gothic style can vary according to location, age, and type of building, it is often characterized by 5 key architectural elements: large stained glass windows, pointed arches, ribbed vaults, flying buttresses, and ornate decoration.

Waging a constant battle against gravity, master masons, who both designed and built these cathedrals, wanted to create as much uninterrupted vertical space as possible in their stone structures. These soaring heights provided a dramatic interior which served to reinforce the power of the church.

Gothic sculpture was closely tied to architecture, since it was used primarily to decorate the exteriors of cathedrals and other religious buildings. The earliest Gothic sculptures were stone figures of saints and the Holy Family used to decorate the doorways, or portals, of cathedrals in France and elsewhere.