The Resurrection of Notre-Dame dAmiens
Consecrated in 1152 and originally built in the Romanesque style, Notre-Dame dAmiens was completely destroyed by a fire in 1218. The rebuilding began in 1220 and though largely completed by 1280 the renovations seem never to have stopped.
John Ruskin, a British art lover and critic, expressed the view that the French could not leave their cathedrals alone for ten minutes. (Romane 40)
The entry for Notre-Dame dAmiens in Wikipedia states that Bishop Evrard de Fouilly initiated work in 1220. Robert de Luzarches was the architect until 1228, followed by Thomas de Cormont until 1258. His son, Renaud de Cormont, was the architect until 1288.
Though the above information is found in many reference works, a fact less widely known and one of the things I find most fascinating is that the original architect, Robert de Luzarches, was merely a layman in that field. (Pater 114)
After the destruction by fire of the Romanesque cathedral, Notre-Dame dAmiens was rebuilt in the Rayonnant style and proclaimed the pinnacle of Gothic architecture. Today, it continues to be acknowledged as possibly the finest example of Rayonnant Gothic in the world.
Paraphrasing Encyclopedia Britannica, the Rayonnant style represents the height of Gothic architecture, and during this period architects became more interested in decoration than in great size. Rayonnant Gothic makes extensive use of pinnacles and window tracery (see Fig. 2), and the name reflects the radiating character of the rose window. Other prominent features of Rayonnant Gothic architecture include the thinning of vertical supports, enlargement of windows, and a combination of the triforium gallery and clerestory into one large area. Notre-Dame dAmiens is the earliest manifestation of Rayonnant Gothic. (Encyclopdia Britannica 2010)
Rayonnant Gothic was immediately followed by the Flamboyant style, and the radiating rose window seen on the west faade today is actually a replacement from the Flamboyant period, not classic Rayonnant. (see Fig. 3 Hartt 464)
The western faade of the cathedral at Amiens is the most often photographed and the most easily recognized of its features. There, one will find the rose window, the two square towers of uneven height, three ornately carved porches, and the Gallery of Kings (see Fig. 4), but stone carvings and statuary are found on every faade and throughout the massive interior. It is these magnificent works, especially the series pertaining to John the Baptist (see Fig. 5) and those found in the choir screen (see Fig. 6), which most capture my interest and imagination.
The sheer number (in the thousands) of intricate carvings, statues and gargoyles (see Fig. 7) and the realism of the portal sculptures is overwhelming, especially when considering the rudimentary tools and equipment available at that time. The entire cathedral is a sculpture and the focus upon Naturalism is considered a Gothic signature.
My focus will be upon the people, times, and circumstances which made the rebuilding of this cathedral financially feasible, architecturally possible and a psychological imperative for kings, clergy, nobles and peasants, alike.
The original, Romanesque cathedral at Amiens was not the only structure destroyed in the fire of 1218. Much of the city was gutted, and as would be the case for any community at any time, the mental and emotional toll must have been devastating. Just coming out of the Dark Ages and still experiencing tough economic times, though formally recognized as a city by the king for more than a hundred years, the fire could have sent Amiens back to darkness for many decades.
Luckily, the city was also a pilgrimage destination. The head of John the Baptist was allegedly brought back to Amiens from the fourth Crusade in 1206, though the truth of that matter is often debated. Even those who claim that the skull housed in the original cathedral did indeed belong to John the Baptist also say that the skull was somehow lost. Many insist however that some parts of the missing skull were eventually found and that John the Baptists facial bones rest once again in a North Aisle reliquary.
Whether or not Saint John the Baptists skeletal remains were actually housed in the cathedral was and remains irrelevant. The only thing which matters is that the faithful believed the relics were there, and this belief drew them to Amiens in great numbers. Incredibly, John the Baptist was not the churchs only rock star.
Long before John the Baptist started drawing crowds at the cathedral, the first Bishop of Amiens, Saint Fermin, was beheaded in Amiens on September 25, 303 AD and a cult quickly sprang up around him. He is venerated to this day, his relics are definitely in the cathedral, and the left porch of the main faade is dedicated to him. Saint Fermin is also depicted with John the Baptist (see Fig. 5) in the cathedrals stone carvings. Having the relics of these two men put Amiens in an enviable position, and this treasure alone might have been enough to assure that Notre-Dame would be rebuilt.
Another fortunate happenstance for Amiens was that it was the provincial capital of Picardie and on the Somme River. Considered a market town in a province where agriculture would soon flourish and the textile industry thrive, it was surrounded by dozens of villages at the time of the fire. The average village consisted of approximately thirty families, and additional settlements were continually springing up around these economic centers. The northern regions of France were becoming as much a Mecca for artists, craftsmen and merchants as for Christian pilgrims (and the Church received untold amounts of money from pilgrims).
The rise of personal fortunes during this era was still unusual as the feudal system had not yet been abolished. Kings were thought to rule by divine right and lands were owned by the royal families and the Church. Land was granted to subjects by the king and in return he was guaranteed soldiers during times of war.
Additionally, it was required that those who lived on or worked these lands tithe ten percent of everything they produced to the Church, which resulted in great personal wealth for many in the Churchs hierarchy. The abbots and bishops in Amiens would have enjoyed affluence beyond imagination by the monies received from tithes and those on pilgrimage.
The bishops and feudal lords of northern France were not happy about the profit-making enterprises of others and didnt encourage the practice, but they did begin to look the other way as a means of enticing laborers, craftsmen and tradesmen to settle in the area. It was this new-found freedom for individuals which stimulated the growth of population and wealth, both of which were necessary for an enterprise as demanding as that of the cathedrals rise from the ashes.
The early 1200s in Amiens suddenly became particularly prosperous for the king, the Church, and subjects of the realm not only because the need to defend themselves from outside invaders greatly lessened but because woad grew there in abundance. Indigo could be extracted from woad and there was great demand for indigo, especially in Great Britain. It has often been speculated that Bleu dAmiens alone could have paid for the rebuilding of the cathedral.
The relatively peaceful times gave people the ability to focus upon increasing their agricultural output and developing other avenues for general commerce (predominantly those related to textiles), which resulted in ever larger amounts of money, livestock, crops and other items of value being given to the Church. This too would have contributed to the rebuilding of Notre-Dame dAmiens as well as benefit the clergy.
Though there had been a general increase in subjects optimism at the time of the fire, and prosperity was on the rise for many in the area, possibly the most important factor in the rebuilding of Notre-Dame dAmiens in such grand style was the wholehearted and unwavering support of three kings. Philip II Augustus was king of France in 1220 when work commenced, and his son and grandson (King Louis VIII and King Louis IX) continued the royal patronage until their deaths.
All three men took their duties to Christendom as seriously as they took their duties to France and its people. It was believed that the life of Philip Augustus was spared after his father, King Louis VII, prayed for his recovery from a dangerously high fever at the Shrine of Thomas Becket. Louis IX was said to have been on his death bed when he suddenly asked for a cross and then clutched it in his hands while sleeping for several hours. After awakening he seemed weak but miraculously healed, and within days he was hale and hearty.
I have found no similarly personal spiritual experiences for Louis VIII, but he did put a lot of effort into discovering new ways to make money without getting excommunicated, and he like his father and son went to battle for the Church.
It is no surprise that these men would give their full support to the building of a new and improved cathedral, especially one which would serve as a shrine for two figures as important to the Church as St. John the Baptist and St. Fermin. Kings needed to arouse both the religious convictions and patriotic sentiments of those they ruled, and to present an image of strength and invulnerability to those they did not. The cathedral would be to their glory, as well as to Gods.
The rising prosperity of farmers and merchants and the general positivism in Picardie combined with the influx of laborers, artisans, craftsmen and tradesmen and the support of kings made rebuilding the cathedral seem a given despite the hardship entailed. The fact remained, however, that this would be a monumental undertaking.
Financial resources were made available, the city had a nearby quarry, and iron ore (for gates, hinges, locks, etc.) was plentiful, but it is still almost incomprehensible that men who lived in the early 13th Century managed to create such a fantastic edifice without heavy equipment and power tools, under the direction of an amateur.
Its location on the Somme River was certainly another important factor in this equation, but riverboats did not build Notre-Dame dAmiens. Historians look back upon men such as Robert Luzarches as a new breed of hero-architect who signed their buildings with pride and were prominently buried therein. (Kostof 341) All three of the architects were master masons (Columbia University Amiens Syllabus 1) and in his relatively short life born towards the end of the twelfth century and died in 1236 Luzarches also carved many of the cathedrals window sculptures, the larger-than-life-sized statues of the apostles and prophets, and the scenes from The Last Judgment above the main door.
Peasants would have been the general laborers who worked at the building site and in the quarry. Horses and mules were used to assist with both the transportation of stone and hoisting of stones into place, and they were often the muscle behind simple cranes powered by treadmills.
The quarry at Amiens was the first to have shelters installed so that work could continue no matter the weather and so that the dressing could be done at the quarry, saving vast sums of money on transport. Cut stone was also stored at the quarry until ready for use by masons and other craftsmen. Year-round work would have been impossible without the shelters and storage areas, and the steady supply of laborers provided by an ever-expanding population.
Even given a sufficient numbers of laborers, however, the dressing of each stone could take master craftsmen more than an hour per linear inch The amount of time required for individual artists to create thousands of extremely detailed stone sculptures and carvings would be incalculable.
The work was surely exhausting and exacting from beginning to end, and masons couldnt even begin until quarrymen had provided colossal blocks of stone cut from the earth with pick-axes. Quarry masons were required to leave their personal marks on each stone dressed so that if a stone cracked or otherwise failed during installation the mason responsible could be fined.
Excavators used manual tools to dig the hole and prepare level, stable ground for the buildings foundation. Mortar makers didnt have cement trucks. They mixed lime, water and sand in trenches and wooden troughs while carpenters built scaffolding and hundreds of laborers carried wood and mortar and stone and completed a thousand other tasks daily working in pairs or teams and often using neck-yokes because the wheelbarrow was still a relative rarity in Europe.
Rayonnant Gothic architecture was a reaction to the difficult years preceding its advent. People were tired of suffering and want, and of dreary architecture which only reminded them of their burdens and unhappiness. The Church hastened to give the people what they want lest it risk losing its place of authority. The airiness, light, and extravagant decoration of the Rayonnant period was a backlash against the monasticism which had scorned knowledge as well as display or distraction of any kind, and which had severely limited architects of the low Middle Ages.
Gothic realism is a realism of particulars focused on specific details rather than on the overall structure of the visible world. Its most characteristic products are small-scale carvings such as the Labors of the Month in quatrefoil frames on the faade of Amiens cathedral with their delightful observations of everyday life. (Janson 464)
Although researching historical facts and technical aspects pertaining to Notre-Dame dAmiens resurrection proved extraordinarily interesting, the human components seemed far more profound. This project obviously excited the imaginations of everyone involved in even the slightest capacity, and its clear they believed they were doing something important.
Kings were thinking of their fortunes, reputations and legacies bishops had many of the same hungers as well as ambitions for the Church. John the Baptist and Saint Fermin were the luck of circumstance and Nature conspired, offering the river and bringing woad. Moreover, artists were given meaningful expression and peasants were beginning to question their lives of toil for the enrichment of others.
As I read about the huge numbers and myriad types of workers involved in this project, I couldnt stop thinking about full employment. Todays cathedrals are more often erected for Mammon (see Fig. 8), using slave labor. Was this the case for laborers at Amiens, as it was with so many other great monuments (i.e., Mayan and Egyptian pyramids, the Sphinx, and the Great Wall of China) Were only the artisans, craftsmen, and tradesmen compensated for their work, while kings and bishops enjoyed the resulting spoils Was the rise in prosperity felt by the average peasant, too
It is difficult to imagine such an existence or such an endeavor when in todays world almost everything is done with the push of a button or accompanied by the roar of electric andor gas-fueled machinery. However with all of our advances and advantages, we build few structures as impressive and enduring as Notre-Dame dAmiens.
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