Amiens Cathedral

Floor plan of Amiens Cathedral (from Encyclopædia Britannica 1911)

The lack of documentation concerning the construction of the Gothic cathedral may be in part the result of fires that destroyed the chapter archives in 1218 and again in 1258—a fire that damaged the cathedral itself. Bishop Evrard de Fouilly initiated work on the cathedral in 1220. Robert de Luzarches was the architect until 1228, and was followed by Thomas de Cormont until 1258. His son, Renaud de Cormont, acted as the architect until 1288. The chronicle of Corbie gives a completion date for the cathedral of 1266. Finishing works continued, however. Its floors are covered with a number of designs, such as the bent cross (to symbolize Jesus' triumph over death). The labyrinth was installed in 1288. The cathedral contains the alleged head of John the Baptist, a relic brought from Constantinople by Wallon de Sarton as he was returning from the Fourth Crusade.

The construction of the cathedral at this period can be seen as resulting from a coming together of necessity and opportunity. The destruction of earlier buildings by fire, and failed attempts at rebuilding forced the fairly rapid construction of a building that, consequently, has a good deal of artistic unity. The long and relatively peaceful reign of Louis IX of France brought prosperity to the region, based on thriving agriculture and a booming cloth trade, that made the investment possible. The great cathedrals of Reims and Chartres are roughly contemporary.

The west front of the cathedral, built in a single campaign from 1220 to 1236, shows an unusual degree of artistic unity: its lower tier with three vast deep porches is capped with the gallery of twenty-two over lifesize kings, which stretches across the entire façade beneath the rose window. Above the rose window there is an open arcade, the galerie des sonneurs. Flanking the nave, the two towers were built without close regard to the former design, the south tower being finished in 1366, the north one, reaching higher, in 1406.

The western portals of the cathedral are famous for their elaborate sculpture, featuring a gallery of locally-important saints and large eschatological scenes. Statues of saints in the portal of the cathedral have been identified as including the locally venerated Saints Victoricus and Gentian, Saint Domitius, Saint Ulphia, and Saint Fermin.[7]

The spire over the central crossing was added between 1529 and 1533.[2] The surface area is 7,700 square meters — the largest in France.

Amiens cathedral contains the largest medieval interior in Western Europe, supported by 126 pillars. Both the nave and the chancel are vast but extremely light, with considerable amounts of stained glass surviving, despite the depredations of war.

The north aisle, 1903

The ambulatory surrounding the choir is richly decorated with polychrome sculpture and flanked by numerous chapels. One of the most sumptuous is the Drapers' chapel. The cloth industry was the most dynamic component of the medieval economy, especially in northern France, and the cloth merchants were keen to display their wealth and civic pride. Another striking chapel is dedicated to St Thomas of Canterbury, a 13th-century dedication that complements the cathedral's own very full list of martyrs.

The interior contains works of art and decoration from every period since the building of the cathedral. There are notably baroque paintings of the 17th century, by artists such as Frans II Francken and Laurent de La Hyre.

• Cathedral interior gallery
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  Nave of Notre-Dame d'Amiens looking toward the western façade
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  South aisle looking westward
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  Close-up of a stained glass window
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  Chapel of the Virgin Mary
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  Nave of Notre-Dame d'Amiens
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  Nave vaults of Notre-Dame d'Amiens
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  Chapel of Notre-Dame de Puy (1627-1628)
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  Gisant of Evrard de Fouilloy, bishop of Amiens (1211-1222)
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  Rose of the northern transept
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  Gothic choir stalls (1508-1519)
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  Right side of nave from organ gallery. Plumb-line from stick from gallery right near transept. Showing vertical curves and widening, 1906.
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  Nave from above altar, looking back toward organ gallery and entrance
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  Left (north) view of transept from Triforium, showing the outward lean of the wall and of the pier in the angle, 1903.
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  The famous Weeping Angel, a 17th-century sculpture on a tomb in the ambulatory, directly behind the high altar
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  David Roberts, Interior of Amiens Cathedral, ca. 1827, Princeton University Art Museum

John the Baptist's head

Reliquary for the head of Saint John the Baptist

The initial impetus for the building of the cathedral came from the installation of the reputed head of John the Baptist on 17 December 1206. The head was part of the loot of the Fourth Crusade, which had been diverted from campaigning against the Turks to sacking of Constantinople, the great capital of the Byzantine Empire. A sumptuous reliquary was made to house the skull. Although it was later lost, a 19th-century replica still provides a focus for prayer and meditation in the North aisle.

• Elisabeth, Countess of Vermandois, wife of Philip I, Count of Flanders
• Charles de Hémard de Denonville, Catholic bishop and cardinal
• Antoine de Créqui Canaples (heart only), Catholic bishop and cardinal

Memorials

• The cathedral's south door contains eleven memorial tablets to commemorate the war dead from World War I, mainly the Battle of the Somme. Nations commemorated are mostly British Empire and dominions (modern-day countries of Republic of Ireland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand).
• Notable individuals commemorated include French World War I general Marie-Eugène Debeney, British Army officer Raymond Asquith and French World War II general Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque.

The 1978 album Winter Songs by English avant-rock group Art Bears comprises fourteen short songs composed by Fred Frith around texts by Chris Cutler that were based on carvings on the dado of the west facade of the Cathedral.[10]

References

Sources

• "Amiens Cathedral." Encyclopædia Britannica Online, 6 December 2006.
• Amiens Cathedral – World Heritage Site
• "Amiens Cathedral, under Renovation." (undated albumen print from c. 1865–1895), A. D. White Architectural Photographs Collection, Cornell University Rare and Manuscript Collections (5/5/3090.01261)
• "Monument historique – PA00086250". Mérimée database of Monuments Historiques (in French). France: Ministère de la Culture. 1992. Retrieved 17 July 2011.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cathédrale Notre-Dame d'Amiens.

• Official Website (in French and English)
• Amiens Cathedral images, 360° panoramas, and essays. In "Mapping Gothic France," a database created by Columbia University and Vassar College.
• 360° photos of the cathedral
• Outstanding photos of the cathedral
• Photos
• The Portals, Access to Redemption by Professor Stephen Murray)
• Photos of the magnificent reproduction of the cathedral colors by laser projection
• "Background, Structural and Statistical Information for the cathedral". Archived from the original on 10 November 2010. Retrieved 29 January 2011.
• Youtube page of Amiens Videos produced by the Media Center for Art History at Columbia University for the Core Curriculum class "Masterpieces of Western Art"
• Photos of the Amiens Cathedral (polish)
• High-resolution 360° Panoramas and Images of Amiens Cathedral | Art Atlas