Cathedral

From MetaforasWiki

The Cathedral of Nôtre-Dame, Paris, was completed in the mid-thirteenth century with towers added in the fiftheenth century.

The unity of reason and faith known as scholasticism was reflected in the great number of gothic cathedrals built from the mid-twelfth century to the beginning of the fifteenth century. These massive structures, constructed over a span of decades or often centuries, were the mass communications technology of the time, disseminating Christian religious doctrine. A visitor to the cathedral would be presented with an often overwhelming array of media synthesized together, from the architecture of the building itself, to the music of the organ, to paintings, stained glass, written materials, and even textiles and incense. The architectural advances of the time—most notably the flying buttress—allowed for higher ceilings, thinner walls, and larger windows. The additional light that filtered through these windows seemed to suggest the ascent to heaven (divine light), while the windows themselves were filled with stained glass that contained visual narratives from the Bible. The use of imagery was especially important in instructing and teaching the worshipers, most of whom were illiterate. The repetition of ritual was also a means of reinforcing memory. Other architectural advances were the enlarged nave of the cathedral, which allowed the many pilgrims who visited churches to see the relics without disturbing the local congregation. The cathedral became a focal point for a variety of social and religious activities whose message was reinforced by a variety of methods of stimulating the senses. By the Reformation of the sixteenth century, visual imagery was considered distracting from direct contact with God and so was removed from the places of worship; the text of the printed Bible that had it developed over the previous century became more important.

See Also

• Cathedral
• Mosque
• Synaesthesia
• Chinese Painting
• Mandalas