Joost van Santen Light and Daylight Art in Architecture and Sculpture
inspiration
The cathedral at Chartres (also called Notre Dame
as it is dedicated to "Our Lady," or the Virgin Mary) is the most
important in the development of the Gothic cathedrals. The cathedral has
a great monumentality and lightness of form which increases the thrilling,
emotional, and spiritual experience of entering a cathedral. Chartres attains
a quality of weightlessness and an immaterial expression as the space, illuminated
by stained glass, expands upward and outward. Chartres has been called the
"visible soul" of the Middle Ages. Chartres retains most of its
original medieval stained glass and is therefore unique. Chartres burned
or was destroyed six times and the church represents the final rebuilding
with the exception of the westward which survived the fire of 1134.
Dynamic Daylight Images are the essence of the art of Joost van Santen