How Does Gothic Architecture Influence Christianity?

2. The word “Gothic” originally carried a negative connotation. However, the Gothic style was able to heavily influence Christianity, and the relationship between the two became one of great benefit to the Church. The Gothic had many new ideas in the field of architecture. One of these was rib vaulting. The ribs replaced the large stones of the Romanesque style, and caused the arch to be pushed to a greater height. This increased height encouraged the worshippers to look to the heavens, further adding to their spiritual experience (Sayre 406). Another innovation was the stained-glass windows. The stained-glass windows gave an advantage to worshippers. Since a large number of people were illiterate, pictures were created for the windows using paint and glass of different colors. These windows were able to tell the stories of the Bible to people who could not read (Sayre 405). As the thirteenth century progressed, more architects started to design their cathedrals after the Gothic Style.
School of Notre-Dame composers, Léonin and Pérotin, innovated their music by putting stress on the counterpoint and creating a form of music called the motet. Because of the stone and vast spaces of the Gothic cathedrals, the sound of the music would go towards the top of the cathedral (Sayre 413). The way that the sound transmits throughout the …show more content…
When these two cities were threatened violence, natural disasters or diseases, they took an image of the Virgin Mary and went throughout the city with it. Their reverence for the Virgin Mary unified the Church and the state. Because of this, she was frequently presented in paintings. The Byzantine art styles once dominated Europe. However, in the 14th century, artist started to move away from the abstract art and began to add realism to their paintings. Because of the realism, the Virgin Mary was able to be seen, not only in a divine light, but also as a human (Sayre