Flamboyant


Flamboyant is an ornate architectural style developed in Europe in the Late Middle Ages and Renaissance, from around 1375 to the middle 16th century. A form of late Gothic architecture, it is characterized by double-curves forming flame-like shapes in the bar-tracery, which give the style its name. Flamboyant tracery is recognizable for its flowing forms, influenced by the earlier Curvilinear tracery of the Second Gothic styles. Very tall and narrow pointed arches and gables, particularly double-curved ogee arches, are common in buildings of the Flamboyant style. In most regions of Europe, Late Gothic styles like Flamboyant replaced the earlier Rayonnant style and other early variations.
The style was particularly popular in Continental Europe. Architects and masons in the Kingdom of France, the Crown of Castile; the Duchy of Milan, and Central Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries exchanged expertise through theoretical texts, architectural drawings, and travel, and spread the use of Flamboyant ornament and design across Europe. Notable examples of Flamboyant style are the west porch of the parish Church of Saint-Maclou, Rouen,, the west front of Troyes Cathedral, and the Great West Window of York Minster. Further major examples include the Chapel of the Constable of Castile at Burgos Cathedral ; Notre-Dame de l'Épine in Champagne; the north spire of Chartres Cathedral ; and Segovia Cathedral.
The Late Gothic style had appeared in Central Europe with the construction of the new Prague Cathedral under the direction of Peter Parler. This model of rich and variegated tracery and intricate reticulated rib-vaulting was widely used in the Late Gothic of continental Europe, emulated not only by the collegiate churches and cathedrals, but by urban parish churches which rivalled them in size and magnificence. Use of the ogee was especially common.
in the late 15th and early 16th centuries Flamboyant forms spread from France to the Iberian Peninsula where the Isabelline style became the dominant mode of prestige construction in the Crown of Castile, the portion of Spain governed by Isabella I of Castille. During the same period Flamboyant features also appeared in Manueline style in the Kingdom of Portugal. In Central Europe, the Sondergotik style was contemporary with the Flamboyant in France and the Isabelline in Spain.
, west front
ing of Segovia Cathedral, nave
The term was first used by the French artist Eustache-Hyacinthe Langlois in 1843, and then the English historian Edward Augustus Freeman in 1851. In architectural history, the Flamboyant is considered the last phase of French Gothic architecture, and appeared the last decades of the 14th century, succeeding the Rayonnant style, and prevailing until its gradual replacement by Renaissance architecture during the first third of the 16th century.
Notable examples of Flamboyant in France include the Saint-Chapelle de Vincennes and the west front of Trinity Abbey, Vendôme. Significant examples of civil architecture include the Palace of Jacques Cœur in Bourges and the Hôtel de Cluny in Paris.
In the late 15th and early 16th centuries, similar styles appeared in England, called Decorated Gothic and Perpendicular Gothic.

Origins

Although the precise origin of the Flamboyant style remain unclear, it likely emerged in northern France and the County of Flanders during the late fourteenth century. Parts of these lands were involved in the cloth trade with the Kingdom of England or were under the control of John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford, regent of France for his nephew Henry VI, King of France from 1422 to 1453. Through this direct connection, the flickering, flame-like tracery motifs after which the style is named may have been "inspired by the English Decorated style." In addition, the Duchy of Normandy was in personal union with England until the 13th century, while during the Hundred Years War Rouen, capital of Normandy, was again English territory from 1419 until 1449. Earlier in the conflict John, Duke of Berry was taken hostage in England. The ongoing war provided many opportunities for exchange as evidenced by the fireplace in the ducal palace in Poitiers and the paneled, screen-like upper parts of the west façade of Rouen Cathedral.
Tracery patterns of the fourteenth century seem to fall into either the category of rich, flame-like forms inspired by the English Decorated or the "paneled severity" of English Perpendicular style. According to Robert Bork, "continental builders borrowed almost exclusively from the Decorated style, which had largely passed out of fashion in England by 1360, rather than from the more current Perpendicular style." The clear rejection of the grid-like forms in France indicates some awareness of the contrasting styles. Still, the emergence of the Flamboyant style was a gradual process. What has been termed "proto-Flamboyant" appeared at the royal abbey church of Saint-Ouen in Rouen in the inner wall of the north transept between 1390–1410. No flowing, double-curved forms were used there, but the "eight double lancet panels seem to spin around a quatrefoil center." Although this rose motif appears dynamic and in motion, its design was not based on the double-curve. Nevertheless, it is an early example of experimentation with tracery forms that anticipates the use of flowing, double-curve forms in Normandy. More so than the great churches of northern France, palaces constructed by royal and elite patrons provided more "fertile grounds for innovation" with curvilinear tracery in France while England turned to the Perpendicular style.

France

The term "Flamboyant" was coined in the early nineteenth century primarily to refer to French monuments with flame-like curvilinear tracery constructed between circa 1380 and 1515. The Flamboyant style appeared in France at a particularly difficult time, during the Hundred Years War against England. Despite this, construction of new cathedrals, churches, and civil structures—as well as additions to existing monuments—went ahead in France, and continued throughout the early 16th century. In addition to richly articulated façades, very high, lavishly decorated porches, towers, and spires were particular features of the Flamboyant style. Although wealthy patrons were initially reluctant to shift away from the elegance and visual logic of the older Rayonnant style and its association with king Louis IX, formative examples of the Flamboyant style in France appeared first in royal palaces. These initial experiments consisted of deploying curvilinear tracery for John, Duke of Berry, in his castle chapel at Riom and the fireplace in the great chamber of the ducal palace at Poitiers, and in the La Grange chapels at Amiens Cathedral.
Royal and elite residences were also some of the earliest monuments constructed completely in the Flamboyant style. Located in Bourges, the residence of Jacques Cœur, the treasurer of the King, constitutes a key example. Constructed between 1444 and 1451, it features a combination of residential and official wings richly decorated with gables, turrets, and chimneys arranged around a central courtyard. The Château de Châteadun, which was transformed between 1459 and 1468 by Jehan de Dunois, the half-brother of king Charles VI, is another striking example and among the earliest residences built essentially for leisure in France. In addition to featuring one of the seven remaining Sainte-Chapelle chapels, the château also includes an elegant spiral staircase. The corresponding façade is decorated with characteristic flame-like tracery in the windows and also includes dormers with fleur-de-lys, indicating that the owner of the building is a descendant of Charles V. Another notable example is the Hôtel de Cluny in Paris, originally the residence of the abbot of Cluny, now the Museum of the Middle Ages. Fine flamboyant details are found in the chapel, the doorways, windows, tower, and roofline. A late example of Flamboyant civil architecture in France is the Parlement de Normandie, now the Palais de Justice, of Rouen, with slender, crocketed pinnacles and lucarnes terminated with fleurons designed by architects Roger Ango and Roulland Le Roux.
, Rouen,
In the fifteenth century, there were relatively few churches constructed entirely in the Flamboyant style in France, where it was more common to commission new, major additions or repairs to older, extant monuments. One significant exception to this trend was the parish Church of Saint-Maclou in Rouen. Commissioned by the Dufour family during the English occupation of Rouen, the remarkably homogenous design of the new parish church reflects the vision of Pierre Robin, the sole master mason hired in 1434 to draft the drawings that governed all construction until the church was consecrated in 1521. Referred to as "monumental architecture in the miniature," the church has elegant double-tiered flying buttresses, fully developed transept façades with portals, curvilinear rose windows, and a projecting polygonal west porch featuring flickering openwork ogee gables – all of which showcase the principles of the Flamboyant style. The influence of Pierre Robin's innovative design was "far reaching in Rouen and Normandy" and lasted into the sixteenth century, when Roulland Le Roux oversaw work on the upper parts of the Tour de Beurre and the central portal of Rouen Cathedral. Increasing specialization in Gothic workshops and lodges led to the sophisticated forms characteristic of structures completed in the early sixteenth century, such as the south façade and porch of the church of Notre-Dame de Louviers and the north tower of Chartres Cathedral designed by architect Jean de Beauce.
The style was also prevalent in other regions, such as the Île-de-France, where the Sainte-Chapelle de Vincennes, a royal chapel constructed by King Charles V of France, serves as a notable example. It was located just outside Paris, next to the massive Château de Vincennes. It took its inspiration from the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris, but in this case the structure had one single floor, and the windows consisting of curvilinear tracery covered nearly all of the walls. It was begun in 1379, but construction was halted by the Hundred Years War; it was not completed until 1552. One significant Flamboyant landmark in Paris is the Tour Saint-Jacques, all that remains of the Church of Saint-Jacques-de-la-Boucherie, built 1509–23, located close to Les Halles, the Paris central market.
Beyond northern France, churches were also enlarged and updated with additions in the Flamboyant style. Due to its size and decoration, the abbey-church of Saint-Antoine in Saint-Antoine-l'Abbaye is one of the most significant examples of Gothic architecture in southeast France. The abbey-church was a key pilgrimage site in the Middle Ages because it contained the relics of Saint Anthony the Great. The relics housed in the five-aisled church were especially sought out by those who were suffering from "Saint Anthony's Fire". Royal figures also visited the abbey-church, including Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, Louis XI of France, and Anne of Brittany. The most prominent architectural feature of the church is its monumental west façade completed in the Flamboyant style in the fifteenth century. The façade has a central portal flanked by secondary portals and a large lancet window with curvilinear tracery, including triskeles. Additional ornamentation in the form of naturalistic vegetation, gables, pinnacles, and delicate sculpture niches are further testaments of the talents of the masons' workshop. However, work on the façade stopped before it was completed, as there is no evidence of the iron hooks needed to attach figural sculptures.
At Lyon Cathedral, the Bourbons chapel, built during the last decades of the fifteenth century by the Cardinal Charles II, Duke of Bourbon and his brother Pierre de Bourbon, son-in-law of Louis XI, is a key example of the trend of expanding existing Gothic churches in the newer Flamboyant style. Consisting of two bays, it features a small oratory and a sacristy. The pendant vaults are decorated with finely carved keystones. The mouldings of the transverse ribs are decorated with the monograms of Charles de Bourbon, Pierre de Bourbon, and his wife, Anne of France.

Transition between Flamboyant Gothic and Renaissance (1495–1530)

The transition from Flamboyant Gothic to early French Renaissance began during the reign of Louis XII and lasted until roughly 1525–1530. This is a brief transition period in which the ogee arch and naturalism of the Gothic style was blended with round arches, flexible forms, and stylized antique motifs typical of Renaissance architecture. Notably, a good deal of Gothic decoration is apparent at the Château de Blois, but it is totally absent from the tomb of Louis XII housed in the abbey-church of Saint-Denis.
In 1495 a colony of Italian artists was established in Amboise and worked in collaboration with French master masons. This date is generally considered to be the starting point of the period of interaction between the Flamboyant Gothic and early French Renaissance styles. In general, theories of building design and structure remained French while surface decoration became Italian. However, there were connections between French architectural production and other stylistic traditions, including Plateresque in Spain and the decorative arts of the north—especially Antwerp.
The limits of this style, called style Louis XII in French, were variable—especially outside the Loire Valley. In addition to the seventeen-year reign of Louis XII, this period included the end of the reign of Charles VIII and the beginning of that of Francis I, whose rule corresponded with a definitive stylistic turn. Indeed, the creation of the School of Fontainebleau in 1530 by Francis I is generally considered the turning point of the acceptance and establishment of the Renaissance style in France. Early evidence of the intermingling of Flamboyant and classicizing decorative motifs can be found at the Château de Meillant, which was transformed by Charles II d'Amboise, governor of Milan, in 1473. The structure remained fully medieval, but the superposition of the windows in bays connected to each other by extended cord-like pinnacles foreshadows the grid designs of the façades of early French Renaissance monuments. Other notable features include the entablature with classical egg-and-dart motifs surmounted by a Gothic balustrade and the treatment of the upper part of the helical staircase with a semicircular arcade equipped with shells.
In the final years of the reign of Charles VIII, experimentation with Italian ornamentation continued to enrich and mix with the Flamboyant repertoire. With the ascendancy of Louis XII, French masons and sculptors were further exposed to new, classicizing motifs popular in Italy.
In architectural sculpture, the systematic contribution of Italian elements and even the "Gothic" reinterpretation of Italian Renaissance works is evident in the Abbey of Saint-Pierre in Solesmes, where the Gothic structure takes the form of a Roman triumphal arch flanked by pilasters with Lombard candelabra. Gothic foliage, now more jagged and wilted as seen at the Hôtel de Cluny in Paris, mingles with portraits of Roman emperors in medallions at the Château de Gaillon. The maison des Têtes in Valence is still another striking example where Flamboyant blind tracery and foliage mix with classicizing figures, medallions, and portraits of Roman emperors.
In architecture, the use of brick and stone on buildings from the sixteenth century can be observed. The French high roofs with turrets in the corners and the façades with helical staircases perpetuated the Gothic tradition, but the systematic superposition of the bays, the removal of the lucarnes, and the appearance of loggias influenced by the villa Poggio Reale and the Castel Nuovo of Naples are evidence of a new decorative art in which the structure remains deeply Gothic. The spread of ornamental vocabularies from Pavia and Milan also played major roles. Equally important is the fact that Italians also designed formal gardens and fountains to complement French monuments as seen at the Château de Blois in 1499 and the Château de Gaillon shortly thereafter.
The incorporation of Flamboyant Gothic with the classicizing forms of Italy produced eclectic, hybrid structures that were rooted in traditional French building practices yet modernized through the application of imported antique motifs and surface decoration. These transitional monuments led to the birth of French Renaissance architecture.

Belgium

Flamboyant had little influence in England, where the Perpendicular style prevailed, but variations of Flamboyant, influenced by France but with their own characteristics, began to appear in other parts of continental Europe.
Flamboyant had a particularly strong influence in Belgium, which was then part of the Spanish Netherlands, but was also a part of the Catholic diocese of Cologne. Extraordinarily high towers were a particular feature of the Belgian style. In the 15th century Belgian architects produced remarkable examples of both religious and secular Flamboyant architecture. Major examples include the tower of St. Rumbold's Cathedral in Mechelen, built both as a bell tower and a watch-tower for the defence of the city. The tower is high, and was designed to have an even taller spire, high, but only of the spire were actually built. Other notable Flamboyant cathedrals include Antwerp Cathedral, with a tower high, and an unusual dome on pendentives decorated with a Flamboyant rib vault. It was never finished but was consecrated in 1521. Other notable Flamboyant cathedrals in Belgium include the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula, Brussels, and Liege Cathedral.
While the cathedrals were remarkable, the town halls, many built by the prosperous textile merchants of Flanders, were even more flamboyant. They were among the last great statements of Gothic style as the Renaissance gradually came to Northern Europe, designed to showcase the wealth and splendour of their cities. Major examples include the town hall of Leuven, with its multiple, almost fantastic towers, and the town halls of Oudenaarde, Ghent and Mons.

Central Europe

Architects in central Europe adopted some forms and elements of Flamboyant in the late 14th century and added many innovations of their own. The Late Gothic buildings of Austria, Bavaria, Saxony and Bohemia are sometimes called Sondergotik. The high triple west porch of Ulm Minster was placed at the base of the tower and was designed by Ulrich von Ensingen. The porch which was in the center of the facade, a break from earlier Gothic styles. Work on the tower was continued by Ensingen's son after 1419, and much more decoration was added in 1478–92 by another architect, Matthaus Boblinger. The spire was not added until 1881–90, which made it the tallest tower in Europe.
Other remarkable towers appeared, constructed like openwork webs of stone. These included the additions to the tower of Freiburg Minster begun in 1419 by Johannes Hultz, which featured an open spiral staircase and a lacework octagonal spire.

British Isles

Flamboyant architecture was not common in the British Isles, but examples are nonetheless numerous. The flame-like window tracery appeared at Gloucester Cathedral before it appeared in France. In the Kingdom of Scotland, Flamboyant detailing was employed at Melrose Abbey in window tracery of the northern side of the nave and for the west window which completed the construction of Brechin Cathedral. Melrose Abbey had been destroyed during the English invasion of Scotland, and the initial rebuilding followed the traditions of masons from England; from c.1400, the Parisian master-builder John Morow began work on the Abbey, leaving an inscription identifying him in the church's south transept. Morow had possibly been brought to Great Britain by Archibald Douglas, 4th Earl of Douglas, for whom he also worked on Lincluden Collegiate Church. The design of some windows in both Brechin and Melrose are so similar it is possible that Morow or his team of Continental masons worked on both. Comparison can also be made with the chapel of the Château de Vincennes, a castle and royal residence near Paris. Somewhat later, further Flamboyant work was done on the western bays of Brechin Cathedral. In the Kingdom of England the contemporary Late Gothic style, Perpendicular Gothic was prevalent from the middle 14th century, but examples Flamboyant building included the Great West Window in York Minster the cathedral of the Archbishop of York and the Flamboyant curvilinear bar-tracery of St Matthew's Church at Salford Priors, Warwickshire.

Spain

Before the unification of Spain, monuments were constructed in the Flamboyant style in the Crown of Aragon and Kingdom of Valencia. Marc Safont was among the most important architects of the Late Middle Ages in the region. He was commissioned to repair the Palau de la Generalitat de Catalunya in Barcelona and worked on this project from 1410 to 1425. He designed the courtyard and elegant galleries of the building. Also notable is the Chapel of Sant Jordi, which features a striking façade consisting of an entry portal flanked by windows resplendent with both blind and openwork Flamboyant tracery. The interior of the chapel includes a lierne vault with a keystone depicting Saint George and the dragon.
Following an earthquake in 1428, a replacement Flamboyant rose window on the west façade of the Basílica de Santa Maria del Mar in Barcelona was completed by 1459. Additional examples of the Flamboyant style include the cloister of the Convent of Sant Doménec in the Kingdom of Valencia.
Spain was united by the marriage of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile in 1469, and saw the conquest of Granada, the last stronghold of Moorish occupation, in 1492. This was followed by a great wave of construction of new cathedrals and churches in what became known as the Isabelline style, after the queen. This late Spanish Gothic style included a mixture of French-inspired Flamboyant tracery and vaulting features, Flemish features, such as fringed arches, and other elements possibly borrowed from Islamic architecture, such as the crossed rib vaults and pierced openwork tracery of Burgos Cathedral. To this Spanish architects, such as Juan Guas, added distinctive and original new features, as seen Monastery of San Juan de los Reyes in Toledo, and the Colegio de San Gregorio, including the open work towers and the remarkable tracery in the star vault in the Chapel of the Constable.

Portugal

The Manueline style was named for King Manuel I of Portugal. The style was created in particular to show that Portugal was architecturally as well as politically independent of Spain. Batalha Monastery, begun in 1387 to celebrate the victory of Portugal over King Juan of Castile which brought independence, was modified after 1400 in a Flamboyant style. In the same building included elements borrowed by the English Perpendicular style, tracery inspired by French Flamboyant, and German-inspired openwork steeples.
In 1495 Portuguese navigators opened a sea-route to India, and also began trading with Brazil, Goa, and Malacca, bringing enormous wealth into Portugal. King Manuel funded a series of new monasteries and churches covered with decoration inspired by banana trees, sea shells, billowing sails, seaweed, barnacles and other exotic elements, as a monument to the Portuguese navigator Vasco de Gama, and to celebrate Portugal's overseas empire. The most lavish example of this decoration is found on the Convent of Christ in Tomar.

Characteristics

Tracery

The flamboyant tracery designs were the most characteristic feature of the style. They appeared not only in the stone mullions or framework of the windows, but also in complex pointed blind arcades and arched gables that were stacked one over the other, and which often covered the entire façade. They were also used in balustrades and other features. Interlocking openwork gables and balustrades, as seen on the west porch of the church of Saint-Maclou, Rouen, were often used to disguise or diffuse the mass of buildings.
Flamboyant windows were often composed of two arched windows, over which was a pointed oval design divided by curving lines, called soufflets and mouchettes. Good examples are found in the Church of Saint-Pierre, Caen. Mouchettes and soufflets were also applied in openwork form to gables, as seen on the west façade of Trinity Abbey, Vendôme, and in Flamboyant rose windows like at Sens Cathedral and Beauvais Cathedral.

Façades and Porches

The term "Flamboyant" typically refers to church façades, though it equally applies to some secular buildings such as the Palais de Justice in Rouen. Church façades and porches were often the most elaborate architectural features of towns and cities, especially in France, and frequently projected out onto marketplaces and town squares. The intricate and dazzling forms of many façades and porches often appealed to their urban contexts; in some cases, new façades or porches were designed to create impressive architectural vistas when viewed from a specific street or square. This architectural response to increasing concerns with the aesthetics of urban space is particularly notable in Normandy, where a striking group of late 15th- and early 16th-century projecting polygonal porches were all constructed in the Flamboyant style. Martin Chambiges, the most prolific French architect between c. 1480 and c. 1530, combined three-dimensional forms, such as nodding ogees, with a miniaturized vocabulary of niches, baldachins, and pinnacles to produce dynamic façades with a new sense of depth at Sens Cathedral, Beauvais Cathedral, and Troyes Cathedral. The addition of sumptuous Flamboyant façades or porches provided new public faces to older monuments that survived the Hundred Years' War. Façades and porches often used the arc en accolade, an arched doorway which was topped by short pinnacle with a fleuron, or carved stone flower, often like a lily. The short pinnacle bearing the fleuron had its own decoration of small sculpted forms like twisting leaves of cabbage or other naturalistic vegetation. In addition, there were two slender pinnacles, one on either side of the arch.

Vaults, Piers, and Mouldings

Elision, or the elimination of capitals coupled with the introduction of continuous and "dying" mouldings, are additional noteworthy characteristics of which the parish church of Saint-Maclou in Rouen is a key example. The uninterrupted fluidity and merging of disparate forms led to the emergence for the first time of decorative Gothic vaults in France.
Another characteristic feature were vaults with additional types of ribs, called the lierne and the tierceron, whose functions were purely decorative. These ribs spread out over the surface to make a star vault; a ceiling of star vaults gave the ceiling a dense network of decoration. Another feature of the period was a type of very tall round piller without a capital, from which ribs sprang and spread out upwards to the vaults. They were often used as the support for a fan vault, which branched upward like a spreading tree. A fine example is found in the chapel of the Hotel de Cluny in Paris.

Notable examples of religious buildings in France

Footnotes

Citations