“Gothic” was originally a disparaging term applied to medieval art and architecture by Italians in the 16th century, who considered it crude. In actuality, the art produced in the high middle ages, between 1140 and 1500, is highly original, expressive and technically innovative. The finest achievement of the era is the Gothic cathedral, epitomized by the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Chartres, France. Here we find the characteristic features that set Gothic cathedrals apart from earlier buildings: pointed arches, masonry rib vaults, flying buttresses, and brilliant colored-glass windows. The Gothic cathedrals in England are less vertical than their French counterparts, but English builders pursued unique decorative features such as fan vaults and pendants. In the Holy Roman Empire, German sculptors continued to employ the heightened emotionalism that had been established in Ottonian art. Throughout Europe, artists in the Gothic era also produced remarkable examples of metalwork, relief sculptures, and manuscript illumination that illustrate Christian themes and increasingly include representations of secular figures.
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