Exercises on Gothic Art

Art historians have suggested that the term “Gothic” was coined by the humanist Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574) in the 16th century in reference to a type of art born in the Late Middle Ages, with great expression in architecture and painting, and which was different from Romanesque art, produced before it. Among the first painters of the Gothic style, one can mention:

a) Pablo Picasso

b) Giotto di Bondone

c) Leonardo da Vinci

d) El Greco

e) Francis Bacon

Gothic cathedrals started to present very different technical elements from the architecture used in Romanesque constructions. Among these elements were:

a) the full arches, like the Greek and Roman models.

b) the absence of gargoyles in the external decorations.

c) the absence of stained glass.

d) the ogee-shaped arcs.

e) the presence of a pyramidal center.

Among the Flemish painters (who lived in the Netherlands during the Middle Ages), one of the most outstanding in the use of the Gothic style was:

a) Vincent van Gogh

b) Velasquez

c) Rambrandt

d) Johannes Vermeer

e) Jean Van Eyck

Read the text and then mark the correct alternative:

In 1127 St. Bernard (1090-1153) reconciled with Suger (c. 1085-1151). In a letter (n. 78), Bernardo effusively congratulated him for having renovated his abbey, but, above all, for starting to live a truly Christian, modest life, even in the midst of the splendor of power.

This important renovation and redecoration carried out by Suger in Saint-Denis, the most regal of churches (originally a monastery), gave rise to to a new art, Gothic, which, in Saint-Denis, was the most perfect concrete expression of the philosophy of metaphysics of light from the Areopagite Pseudo-Dionysius (5th century). In the poetic spectacle of the exhilarating radiance of light in Saint-Denis, transcendence rested on matter, light on color, contemplation on action.

COSTA, Ricardo da. “Light derives from good and is an image of goodness”:the metaphysics of light by Pseudo Dionysius Areopagite in the artistic conception of Abbot Suger de Saint-Danis. In:Scintilla. Journal of Medieval Philosophy and Mysticism . Curitiba:Faculty of Philosophy of São Boaventura (FFSB),
Vol. 6 - no. 2 - Jul./Dec. 2009, p. 39-52.

Beauty, highlighted by Ricardo da Costa's text referring to the first typically Gothic construction of the Middle Ages, was associated with clarity, light and color. These elements, initially worked on in the Cathedral of Saint-Denis, became common in other Gothic buildings spread throughout Europe. Light and color filled the interior of Gothic cathedrals through:

a) of the great vaults built in the center of the cathedrals.

b) from the paintings of Renaissance artists.

c) of the hatch art.

d) of stained glass art.

e) of the illuminations.

Letter B

Giotto di Bandone, or simply Giotto, is one of the main medieval painters and one of the Florentine representatives of Gothic. Giotto has perfected his technique of painting the saints of the Catholic tradition in a humanized way. He was one of the first to inherit the elements of French Gothic.

Letter D

The pointed arches, unlike the Romanesque ones, did not have 180 degrees of completion. They rose until they formed a sharp angle. This form of construction allowed a greater elevation of the interior of the cathedrals, allowing their verticalization.

Letter E

Jean van Eyck is one of the main representatives of Flemish Gothic. In addition to his paintings presenting elements of clarity related to religiosity, in many of them there are also images of cathedrals composing the scenery of the paintings.

Letter D

The stained glass windows, built between the arches of Gothic cathedrals, worked with colored glass mosaic and always portraying, in their drawings, the religious narratives, allowed the interior of each architectural building to receive a splendid set of different colors. The lighting through the stained glass windows was decisive for the affirmation of the Gothic style in architecture.