(Above) An engraving of a censer by Martin Schongauer (15th century).
A most unusual exhibition can be seen at the Metropolitan Museum of Art until July 19th. It displays medieval and early renaissance designs for works of Gothic architecture and art. Many of these architectural drawings are actual working documents for the creators of the Gothic cathedrals. Some of them are of considerable size. The condition of the drawings is astoundingly good, the penmanship incredibly precise.
What is noteworthy is the unity in Gothic art of aesthetics, mathematics and engineering. In the age of the Gothic there was no separation of these elements. There was no contrast, as in modernity, between the “decorative” and the “structural,” between the “symbolic” and the “functional.” And of course, each Gothic cathedral also “preached” in a mystic, liturgical and symbolic language – sophisticated, but nevertheless accessible to those who shared the religion and culture of that time .
But the genius of the Gothic was not confined solely to ecclesiastical architecture. This exhibition displays drawings of secular buildings, outdoor shrines, tabernacles and liturgical vessels. And in addition to drawings, we see examples of early engravings produced by artists in collaboration with the artisans and cathedral builders. In all these cases the same design principles governed.
The overwhelming majority of the exhibits comes from the German world, as it was then organized in the Holy Roman Empire. There are also major objects on display from France, England and the Low Countries. The relative lack of examples for these regions has to do, I would guess, with losses due to centralized destructive campaigns as in case of the English reformation or the French Revolution. In the more diffuse political and religious environment of the Holy Roman Empire much more survived.
(Above) Drawing of a crozier by Hans Holbem the Elder – perhaps in collaboration with a goldsmith..
For starting from Strasbourg, Cologne and Mainz in the West to Freiburg, Ulm, Regensburg and on to Vienna the various lodges of masons within the Empire exchanged ideas and developed creative “solutions” (as we would say today)to the design challenges of their projects. For the construction of a Gothic cathedral proceeded for generations, even centuries. So, we can see in the exhibition early versions of such masterpieces as the facade of Strasbourg cathedral or the tower of the minster of Freiburg-im-Breisgau. Inevitably, much remained unrealized.
(Above) Design for a since-destroyed outdoor shrine in Ulm.
I can only give this exhibition my highest recommendation!
