Chartres Cathedral

So there you have it Herbert - the collection to date. This summer, I would love to drag them all out for a 'group portrait'. That could be fun to set up!

Thanks again for asking Herbert.

Cheers...John

Before...

After...

Edit: The unforgiving camera eye often sees things our eyes miss. Missed colouring the white patches at the base of the stairs.

The north and south transepts are asymmetrical. The major differences are quite obvious. In the shot below you will immediately pick up on the different tower heights and the different buttress and porch ornamentation.

Other differences, however, are much more subtle. If you were walking around the cathedral, you probably would not pick up on them. But seeing the model sitting on a table, it is quite easy to study both sides of the cathedral at once.

For example, look at the sides of the transept towers on each side of the apse. On the right, you see an arched recess and a small window in the wall above the balcony. There is nothing on the left to match it. Also, compare the different sizes of the tall gothic lower windows.

P.S. There is a door in the base of the right buttress. I did not know that you could pass through such masonry!

Here is a novelty shot taken from inside the chapels looking out. There are seven of them. You can see the template on the floor of them used to keep the gentle curves in place. (The holes in the bottom of the baselate are not needed here.)

But a problem has arisen. The profile of the roof that joins the chapels seen here does not match the footprint on the base of the model. The chapel walls in this shot...

...will not land on this footprint. Therefore the last two chapel bay roofs will have to be cut to profile with scissors. This will not be difficult with the use of a pattern drawn from the footprint on the base.

Hi Dalibor.
Thank you for your kind comments. You will not be disappointed when you receive your first L'Instant Durable model.
The paper has a nice mat finish. It is very easy to work.
John

The glitch was easily fixed. In this photo, the right curve of the chapel roof is being altered. It just did not meet the wall of the choir properly. In fact, the footprint of the chapels was of no use at all. This was not a problem, as the white areas were covered up by the larger chapels. Some white spots indicating where buttresses were to go, had to be covered up with opaque paint.

Not complaining. This was not a big deal. The model continues to amaze me. I am learning a lot about gothic architecture with every part.

Here are the completed chapels.

Two towers sit atop the choir roofs. The white patch will be the next work site.

The cathedral was designed to have nine towers. So far, we've accounted for six of them - two at the west façade with their spires and four rising only to the top of the transepts. The next two towers, as seen above, rise up each side of the choir.

Where is the ninth tower you ask? It was intended to be located atop the crossing of the transept. It was never built.

A step sideways for a moment here. It would be a good idea to place the buttresses tucked in behind the transept walls and towers before placing the two choir towers.

Here they are flanking the choir. What a wonderful play of forces and counter forces - six buttresses springing from one central post on each side.

Martin, you are right. Chartres was a turning point in the development of medieval architecture. Not to worry about the slides. Thank you so much for the lead on the book. It looks wonderful. I will seek out this book. To repay your kindness, I recommend a book to you. Houghton Mifflin Company Boston/1973 published a book written and drawn by DAVID MACAULAY entitled:

'CATHEDRAL, The Story of its Constructiion'. ISBN 0-395-31668-5

I mentioned it before on the Reims build. David draws in pen and ink. He traces the building of a cathedral from bare ground to completion. A picture is truly worth a thousand words in this book.

Thanks Martin,
John

One tower down and one to go. I must say that this tower did not go into place without a fight. Getting the joining bridge to mate with the surrounding cornice was tricky. The tower's height had to be adjusted as well as the length of the bridge.

As we move around to the other side of the cathedral to complete the other tower, let me pause here and show you the section Jens and Ricardo have noted.

Jens, I agree with you that the white patch could have been better handled. I don't mind giving credit where credit is due, but if the publishers wanted credits on the model, at least the background could have been rendered in stone colours.

Ricardo, there isn't actually a buttress missing to the right of the credits. There never was one there. In 1326 a two-tier construction was added to the chevet. The upper floor was known as Saint Piat chapel. It was joined to the cathedral by a staircase in the form of a covered bridge with fine stained-glass windows. Here again, something could have been done with the white patch that represents this joining region.

I have taken liberties here with a little creative stonework.

Edit: Ricardo, I am wrong. The buttress should be there. It shows up on diagrams of the cathedral. They must have opened up the wall under the window. It wouldn't make sense to remove a load bearing element.
J.L.

The second tower slipped into place without a hitch. There will be a little retouching needed at the lower front edge of the tower. A much cleaner fit resulted where the balustrades of the bridge joined onto the cornice.

We have arrived at a point where the grounded parts of the cathedral are complete. It's going to be nice to see those spires rise on the west towers at the conclusion of this build.

Attention turns now to the flying buttresses.

Here is a photo of the cathedral to date.

Flying buttresses are very recognizable features of the gothic cathedral. It's easy to understand how they carry the stresses of the the roof down to the ground. But I was interested in how they significantly altered the design of the cathedral's inner spaces.

The following passages, taken from the text in the model book, explain how Chartres changed the development of architecture at that time. I apologize if your eyes glaze over while reading this, but it's a good summary of the drive at that time for 'light' and 'vertical push'.

In the Romanesque style, " The large square vaults of the main nave were sexpartite, so called because they were divided by their ribs into six interdependent parts. Their thrust was balanced by the gallery vaults surmounting the aisles. The interior elevation of the main nave presented a series of four horizontal planes: the rows of arcades bordering the aisles, the bays of the galleries, the triforium - a narrow decorative arcade - and the upper windows. As a result the interiors were dimly lit and there was a lack of vertical push.

It was at Chartres that the way was open for High Gothic architecture. Its example was later taken over, notably in Reims and Amiens. The first innovation was in replacing the square sexpartite vaults by rectangular vaults with diagonal ribs. Their thrust was no longer buttressed by galleries but by arches thrown outwards, transmitting the force towards the piers: these were the flying buttresses that henseforth became an essential feature of Gothic architecture. The main nave thus became a three-storey elevation: the arcades bordering the aisles, the triforium and the clerestory windows. This omission of the galleries heightened the aisles, and hence the arcades alongside them, lengthening the upper windows and increased the vertical emphasis in the nave. Thus simplified the entire structure of the building becomes a play of forces expressed by the intersecting ribs, their supports (clusters of columns) and, outside the flying buttresses."

"The system thus conceived strengthened the role of the ribbing and reduced that of the traditional wall, which became hardly more than infilling. The heightened windows were able to occupy all the available surface in the aisles and the upper storey of the main nave. Void prevails over solid and the light, although softened by the rich colours of the stained glass, is able to stream in."

Bernard de MONTGOLFIER
Inspecteur général des Musées
de la Ville de Paris

So the flying buttresses were key to the success of opening up the walls as well as transferring thrust. Here we see the basic pieces that will make up the flying buttresses around the east end of the cathedral.

Yes, Ricardo, they are very pretty. The web pattern reminds me of the fingers of an outstretched hand, or the petals of a flower.

Thanks Dalibor.
The six flying buttresses supporting the apse are complete. They were much easier to assemble than those on Notre-Dame de Paris and Notre-Dame de Reims. However, if you attempt these models, you will have to be prepared to make many little adjustments to get the buttresses to fit properly and stand plumb. These are not the models for you, if you expect every part to fit exactly as printed. Actually, the inner buttresses on Paris had to be redesigned.

Here are some comparative shots of the three cathedrals' east ends.

1. Paris
2. Chartres
3. Reims

1. Paris
2. Chartres
3. Reims

There are cross ties that span from the back of the choir tower and the choir wall. In the first photo of this series, you see them being cut out. I have found that very thin pieces like these are difficult to trim to length. They fold up to a 'U' channel shape. The only thing that keeps them in shape are the ends. If you trim one off, the sides are free to spread.

I choose to cut off the tabs of these thin parts, and fold them over strip wood. Then no matter which end you trim, the part is stable and can not twist, collapse or spread. This is important if you want a snug fit against two surfaces. The reinforced part can take a little pressure.

The wood strip can be cut to the profile of the part.

When dry fitting to the model, you have full control over a very stable little part.

Too long...

...a little trim...

...just right.

A lot of things are happening...

...in close quarters here.

Hi Ricardo. Thank you. Your photographs of the completed Le Puy are outstanding.

Yes, an odd thing about the blank roofs. When still attached to the pages of the book, I thought they might be some sort of formers or template parts. But no, they were the roofs!

I think I will leave them alone. They speak of the incomplete aspirations for all six towers that were never completed.

Cheers...John