Deck 9: Gothic Architecture

Question 1

The key elements of Gothic structures are the:

A) pointed arches, ordinary buttresses, and transverse arches.
B) pointed arches, rib vaults, and flying buttresses.
C) groin vaults, flying buttresses, and pendentives.
D) pointed arches, fléches, and pendentives.
E) None of the answers is correct.

Answer 1

pointed arches, rib vaults, and flying buttresses.

Question 2

The skeletal nature of the Gothic construction of St. Denis facilitated the:

A) installation of large windows in the shallow chapels surrounding the apse.
B) provision of more space for the church's canons.
C) addition of flying buttresses to the choir to stabilize the great hemicycle.
D) addition of a transept to the original plan.
E) addition of alternate nave piers that have cylindrical and octagonal cores.

Answer 2

installation of large windows in the shallow chapels surrounding the apse.

Question 3

The man who played a major role in the building of St. Denis was:

A) the Pope.
B) Abbot Suger.
C) Louis IX.
D) Villard de Honnecourt.
E) None of the answers is correct.

Answer 3

Abbot Suger.

Question 4

Which of the following statements is true about the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris?

A) Direct light admitted into its nave by the original clerestories proved to be too bright for the space.
B) Clerestories all around the cathedral were shortened in about 1225.
C) Flying buttresses were removed from the choir to stabilize the great hemicycle.
D) In the late thirteenth century, chapels were inserted between all the buttresses around the choir and nave.
E) In the late thirteenth century, transepts with their simple round windows were added.

Question 5

Notre-Dame Cathedral, Chartres, was rebuilt after:

A) a fire damaged the old Romanesque church.
B) the arrival of Abbot Suger.
C) the arrival of Villard de Honnecourt.
D) an earthquake damaged the choir vaults.
E) All of the answers are correct.

Question 6

The cathedral of St. Etienne at Bourges has:

A) features similar to the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Chartres.
B) double aisles that flank the nave and continue in uninterrupted arcs around the choir.
C) wall buttresses linked together horizontally by iron tie-rods.
D) vaulting elaborated with extra ribs, called tierceron and lierne.
E) window tracery worked into trefoil (three-part) or quatrefoil (four-part) cusped shapes.

Question 7

The Sainte-Chapelle in Paris was built:

A) to house relics brought back from Constantinople.
B) to accommodate Catholics on the île de la Cité.
C) to commemorate the ending of the Plague.
D) to commemorate the birth of a son to the Queen of France.
E) All of the answers are correct.

Question 8

Rayonnant style tracery is characterized by:

A) brilliant yellow stained glass.
B) radiating lines.
C) a brightness compared in the thirteenth century to the sun's rays.
D) extreme verticality.
E) None of the answers is correct.

Question 9

The Perpendicular style is:

A) typified by panel tracery.
B) the most decidedly English Gothic style.
C) distinguished by fan vaulting.
D) most common in Northern Italy.
E) None of the answers is correct.

Question 10

The Decorated style:

A) includes tierceron and lierne ribs.
B) is sometimes divided into geometric and curvilinear patterns.
C) includes ribs that do not rise from a pier colonnette and are not ridge ribs.
D) includes trefoil and quatrefoil.
E) All of the answers are correct.

Question 11

The English Gothic religious building with a plan based on Cistercian planning is:

A) King's College Chapel at Cambridge.
B) the Salisbury Cathedral cloister.
C) Canterbury Cathedral.
D) Salisbury Cathedral.
E) All of the answers are correct.

Question 12

An unusual aspect of Salisbury Cathedral is that it:

A) shows strong Norman influence, even though it was built some distance from the French coast.
B) was built almost entirely in a homogenous style.
C) has no tall crossing tower.
D) was founded by Vikings who had been converted to Christianity.
E) None of the answers is correct.

Question 13

Lincoln Cathedral's choir vaults are called "crazy" because:

A) their rib pattern is asymmetrical.
B) their stonework has changed in color because of atmospheric conditions.
C) they were constructed by a mason known for his eccentricities.
D) they have repeatedly collapsed.
E) None of the answers is correct.

Question 14

A hammerbeam is a:

A) beam whose profile resembles a medieval hammer handle.
B) beam assembled using hammered wood pegs.
C) long beam similar to those used in medieval hammer forges.
D) short, horizontal member attached to the foot of a principal rafter.
E) None of the answers is correct.

Question 15

Ely Cathedral's lantern is unusual in being:

A) built of stone taken from the same quarries as the Stonehenge monoliths.
B) the work of immigrant French masons.
C) built of wood.
D) a Renaissance period replacement of the original.
E) All of the answers are correct.

Question 16

The exceptional fan vaults at King's College, Cambridge, were designed by:

A) William Hurley.
B) John Wastell.
C) William of Sens.
D) William the Englishman.
E) None of the answers is correct.

Question 17

In a hall church, ________.

A) double aisles, or halls, flank the nave
B) a hall, or great room, serves as the narthex
C) the nave and aisles are virtually the same height
D) a banqueting hall for royalty is attached to the nave
E) None of the answers is correct

Question 18

St. Barbara Church at Kutná Hora in the Czech Republic is:

A) built on the model of the Bourges Cathedral.
B) a copy of the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris.
C) the first monument of the High Gothic.
D) an extraordinary example of English Gothic.
E) an extraordinary example of Late Gothic.

Question 19

Distinctive features of the church of S. Maria Novella are its:

A) polychrome vault ribs.
B) huge flying buttresses.
C) twin campaniles.
D) wood trusses covered with bronze.
E) All of the answers are correct.

Question 20

The Gothic style was brought to Italy by:

A) masons from Bohemia.
B) the Cistercians.
C) the Benedictines.
D) the Master of Bourges.
E) None of the answers is correct.

Question 21

A medieval manor house might include all of these EXCEPT a:

A) solar.
B) buttery or pantry.
C) hall.
D) keep.
E) All of the answers are correct.

Question 22

Like many Northern Italian medieval towns, S. Gimignano is distinctive for its:

A) many courtyards.
B) manor houses built by noblemen.
C) masonry towers built by families.
D) tall cisterns built by the commune.
E) None of the answers is correct.

Question 23

An English castle might include a motte, which is a:

A) type of moat.
B) wooden palisade.
C) type of courtyard.
D) mound of earth.
E) None of the answers is correct.

Question 24

French bastides were:

A) fortified towns.
B) towns with moats.
C) new town foundations.
D) towns with cathedrals.
E) None of the answers is correct.

Question 25

In a Venetian palace like the Ca' d'Oro, the grand salon:

A) extends the full width of the house.
B) extends the full depth of the house.
C) covers the entire piano nobile.
D) surrounds a courtyard that provides illumination.
E) None of the answers is correct.

Question 26

Discuss the origins of Gothic architecture as seen at the choir of St. Denis near Paris.

Question 27

Compare the structural organization of Chartres Cathedral and St. Etienne Cathedral in Bourges.

Question 28

Discuss the Cistercian interpretation of the Gothic Style.

Question 29

Discuss the features of the overlapping phases of English Gothic architecture.