Charting the Rise and Decline of the Gothic Cathedral

A comprehensive exploration into Gothic cathedrals and their place in medieval society will be the focus of a series of Cambridge University Slade Lectures in Fine Art entitled The Gothic Cathedral: A New Heaven and a New Earth. The lectures, which run from 23 January through to 12 March, begin with Dark Gothic, the origins of the cathedral in the twelfth century and examine the myth of the cathedral in the history of late 19th and early 20th century ideas." - The lectures, which run from 23 January through to 12 March, begin with Dark Gothic, the origins of the cathedral in the twelfth century and examine the myth of the cathedral in the history of late 19^th and early 20^th century ideas. The series continues with an investigation into the origins of Gothic art and architecture in northern France in the twelfth century that features a close-up analysis of Abbot Suger's new choir at St-Denis which is widely considered the first appearance of Gothic Architecture. The series examines the cathedral as a work of engineering and advanced technology; the speakers will discuss the rhetorical notions of ductus and memoria in relation to liturgy and religious experience at Chartres; and plot the changes of meaning and experience in sculptural ensembles in northern France, England and the German Empire. Stained glass also features prominently as a didactic medium that offers a delicate balance of story-telling and moral meaning. The last two lectures weigh up the relations between cathedrals and their cities, and the incursions of royalty and the coronation in the functions and imagery of the Cathedral.