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 Cathedral
Construction (1218-1269): The cathedral at Amiens provides
a largely intact example of a High Gothic cathedral. Besides its impressive
dimensions and the quality of its sculptures, Amiens cathedral is also known
for an exceptional degree of stylistic unity.
After the Romanesque basilica had burned
down in 1218, work on the Gothic cathedral started in 1220, when Bishop Evrard
de Fouilly laid its foundation stone. Fortunately, the main relic of the
church, said to belong to John the Baptist, had survived the devastating
fire, so that Amiens could continue with its role as a center of pilgrimage. Fig.1: West façade of Notre-Dame
cathedral at Amiens (photo: Athena Review).
In contrast to most other Gothic cathedrals,
the construction at Amiens did not begin with the choir, but with the west
façade (figs.1,2) and the nave. By 1240, the façade was finished
up to the rose window, and the nave nearly completed. Completion of the choir,
however, took until 1259, with financial
problems causing a brief interruption of construction between 1240 and 1258.
The main parts of the cathedral, built relatively quickly in only fifty years,
were finished by 1269. The uppermost stories of the south and west towers
were added in 1366 and 1402. The furnishing of the choir was completed in
1519, and the final elements (including the tower above the crossing) were
finished in ca. 1533.
The first architect or master mason of
the church was Robert de Luzarches, who came from the Île de France,
and was responsible for the master plan of the cathedral. He was followed
by Thomas de Cormont (d. 1228), and later by his son, Renaud de Cormont (d.
1280). Cathedral
Exterior: The layout of the west façade (figs.1,2) followed,
in part, the example of Notre-Dame of Paris. The addition of deep porches,
along with the
 arrangement and decoration of the open arcades, and the gallery
of kings in the upper levels, are distinct. Abundant sculptures and
decorations on the abutments lend it a higher degree of three-dimensionality
and depth, more reminiscent of Laon.
Fig.2: View of the portal zone of the west façade at Amiens (photo: Athena
Review).
The High Gothic style of the sculptures
and reliefs of the west façade at Amiens indicates that the sculptors
probably worked in or around Paris before coming to Amiens. These were probably
executed between 1225-1240, after which some of the sculptors might have
moved to Reims, where many sculptures are comparable to those at Amiens
(Williamson 1995). Although the iconography of the portal sculptures shows
a close link to the west façade of both Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris
and the Chartres transepts, the scheme of the Amiens' façade has been
expanded and is more unified. The central portal is dedicated to Christ and
the Last Judgment (fig.3)., the north (left) portal to the local saint, St.
Firmin (fig.4), located on the trumeau, and the south (right) portal to the
Virgin. The central portal's tympanum relief depicts
a detailed and lively description of the Last Judgment (fig.3). In the center
is the enthroned Christ flanked by Mary and John, whereas the two-part lintel
below shows the resurrection of the dead and their
judgment by Archangel Michael, who weighs their sins and piety on a pair
of scales. On the left side of the upper lintel, St. Peter, who has opened
the door to heaven with his key, lets the Blessed into heaven, while on the
right a devilish creature and angels with flaming swords drive the Damned
into the mouth of hell, depicted as the gaping jaws of a monster. The archivolts
show scenes of the Blessed and Damned, and this iconographic scheme is further
expanded by other sculptures, including martyrs, saints, confessors, and
the Tree of Jesse. On the trumeau, a statue of Christ symbolically blesses
the faithful. 
Fig.3: Tympanum at Amiens showing the
Last Judgment (photo: Athena Review).
Another motif alluding to the Last Judgment
is the parable of the ten Wise and Foolish Virgins (Matthew XXV), which decorate
the left and right doorposts, just as at Notre-Dame of Paris. Whereas the
five Wise Virgins awaited the groom well prepared with oil-filled lamps,
the five Foolish Virgins forgot to fill their lamps in time, and thus missed
the arrival of the groom in the night, thereby missing their own wedding
- a symbol reminding one to always be prepared for the day that the Lord
will come.
Following the example of the Virgin's
Portal on the west façade of Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris, the tympanum
of Amiens' south portal shows the Death, Assumption, and Coronation of the
Virgin, surrounded by angels and ancestors of Mary in the archivolts. The
lintel portrays Aaron, Moses, and four Jewish priests sitting beside the
Ark of the Covenant, while the trumeau holds a statue of the Virgin and Child.
The jamb figures, notable for their innovative
arrangement, show scenes of the Annunciation, Visitation, and the Presentation
of Christ at the Temple on the right side, balanced by the Three Magi, King
Herod, King Solomon, and the Queen of Sheba on the left jamb. The subject
of the Annunciation and Visitation was previously executed at Chartres in
the form of monumental jamb sculptures, but the large-scale depiction of
the Three Magi and the Presentation at the Temple at Amiens introduces a
more narrative presentation to the jambs.
The north portal, dedicated to St. Firmin, contains
a statue of him on the trumeau (fig.4). Scenes depicting the recovery of
the saint's body and its transfer to Amiens adorn the tympanum, while the
lintel shows six enthroned bishops. The jambs are decorated with sculptures
of martyrs, local saints, and angels.
Fig.4: North portal of the west façade:
Detail of St. Firmin on the trumeau (photo: Athena Review).
The three portals of the west façade are not
only connected by the statues of prophets attached along the edges of the
porches, but also by the quatrefoil-shaped reliefs on the socles under the
jamb sculptures. These finely carved reliefs are among the most accomplished
sculptures of Amiens. Just as in an open picture book or a bible, the scenes
of the relief bands illustrate the Virtues winning over the Vices on the
central portal, the signs of the Zodiac,and symbols of the calendar on the
north portal, and scenes from the Infancy of Christ, and the story of King
Solomon on the south portal (Williamson 1995).
South Transept:
Figures such as the Virgin on the trumeau reveal a more animated,
and individualized design (fig.5). This statue, known as the Vierge
Dorée (Gilded Virgin), probably replaced a sculpture of the
bishop-saint around 1250, when new flanking angels were also added to the
jambs. Her animated smiling face and vivid gestures,
as well as the softer and more individualized treatment of the drapery folds
indicates the influence of the elegantly stylized Parisian court technique.
The tympanum of the south transept, dedicated to St. Honoratus, shows
scenes from this local bishop's life and death. The archivolts are filled
with prophets and figures from the Old and New Testament, while the lintel
is decorated with figures of the twelve apostles.
Fig.5: The Vierge
Dorée from the south transept at Amiens cathedral (photo: Athena
Review).
Cathedral Interior:
The cathedral, whose impressive dimensions are 145 m long
x 75 m wide, was designed as a three-aisled basilica with transept, and a
five-aisled choir with seven ambulatory chapels. The length of the nave,
133.5 m, is the longest in France (fig.6).
The elevated design of the walls was generally
modeled after Chartres cathedral, completed about the same time that work
commenced in Amiens. Parts of Amiens' cathedral also belonged to the evolving
Rayonnant and the later Flamboyant styles, as basic architectural forms became
more ornate.
The walls of the narrow nave (1230-1236)
reach a height of 42.3 m, reflecting the general upward thrust of High Gothic
architecture (fig.6) The verticality of the nave is further accentuated by
the extreme height of the arcades, which measure half of the nave's total
elevation (Bony 1983). The arcades with 126 pillars are crowned by a foliated
frieze running around the entire church below the blind triforium. The latter
contains two tri-partite openings per bay instead of  the simpler arrangement
at Chartres, with four openings per bay.
The walls of Gothic churches were often painted
in order to draw attention to the architectural elements. At Amiens, the
vaulting of the nave as well as the capitals were painted red and ochre,
and the walls gray. Fig.6: The walls and vaultings of the
nave, showing the arcades and cross-ribbed vaulting (photo: Athena
Review).
In the third bay of the triforium lie 13th century recumbent
bronze effigies of the cathedral's two founding bishops, Bishops Evrard de
Fouilloy and Geoffrey d'Eu. Also located within the nave is a labyrinth patterned
on the floor, originally from 1288. As at
Chartres,
believers in the Middle Ages would follow the lines of these linear mazes
on their knees in a symbolic journey of salvation. The names of the cathedral's
three architects (Robert de Luzarches, Thomas
and Renaud de Cormont) were written on the central stone of this octagonal
labyrinth. Although the labyrinth was destroyed in 1825, the stone containing
the names fortunately survived (Jantzen 1987).
The pierced triforium of the five-aisled choir
(1236-1269) is designed as a window area flooded with light. The seven chapels,
furthermore, are the same height as the aisles. The choir contains 110 Flamboyant
oak stalls created between 1508 and 1519 by the cabinet-makers Arnould Boulin,
Antoine Avernier, and Alexandre Huet. The stalls are arranged in two rows
topped by typical Flamboyant wooden tracery. The wooden tracery d epicts 3650
figures in 400 scenes from the Old Testament and the life of the Virgin Mary.
Various trades and crafts were also portrayed, including a worker who carved
a self-portrait holding a hammer. Detailed stone carvings and gilt paintings
are on the choir screen of the ambulatory dating to 1488. It contains richly
decorated panels on the martyrdom of St. Firmin, and his exhumation by Saint
Saulve three centuries later (fig.7).
Fig.7: Painted sacrophagus of St. Firmin in
Amiens cathedral, from the 15th century (photo: Athena
Review). The unusually high clerestory, located
above the triforium, has the same general structure as that at Chartres,
but its design is more complex due to an additional division of the windows
into smaller lancets surmounted by a smaller rose window. The thin mullions
created by the division of the windows is characteristic of the Rayonnant
style. The clerestory also belongs to the tradition of lightness seen at
Soissons cathedral. Whereas at Chartres or Reims, the head of the window
is surrounded by deep, heavy arches, a lighter, more elevated design was
used at
Amiens
(Bony 1983).
Gothic features of the north and south transept
as well as the nave include cross-ribbed vaulting (ca. 1270). In the High
Gothic era, architects became more skilled and the ribbed vaulting became
increasingly complex. In particular, the addition of an extra transverse
rib across the center of the bay allowed the interior of the cathedral to
reach greater heights (Bony 1983). The elevated design of Amiens, contrasting
with the increased width of earlier cathedrals such as at Chartres, made
Amiens a model for a series of other Gothic cathedrals in France and Germany,
including Cologne Cathedral (1248).
Other features reflect the Flamboyant
phase in Gothic architecture, such as the north transept's 14th century rose
window with star-shaped tracery. There are also four relief scenes depicting
the conversion of the magician Hermogene by St. James the Great (1511) in
the south transept, and a painted sculpture of Christ and the moneylenders
in the Temple (1520) in the north transept.
References: .
Binding, G. 2002. High Gothic The Age of the
Great Cathedrals. Cologne, Taschen.
Bony, J. 1983. French Gothic Architecture of
the 12th and 13th centuries. Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London. University
of California Press.
Jantzen, H. 197. Kunst der Gotik. Klasische
Kathedralen Frankreichs. Chartres, Reims, Amiens. Berlin, Dietrich Reimer
Verlag.
Williamson, P. 1995. Gothic Sculpture.
New Haven and London, Yale University Press.
This article appears on pages 56-59 of Vol.4 No.2 of Athena
Review. .
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