• Source: Brabantine Gothic

Brabantine Gothic, occasionally called Brabantian Gothic, is a significant variant of Gothic architecture that is typical for the Low Countries. It surfaced in the first half of the 14th century at St. Rumbold's Cathedral in the city of Mechelen.
Reputed architects such as Jean d'Oisy,
Jacob van Thienen,
Everaert Spoorwater,
Matheus de Layens,
and the Keldermans and De Waghemakere
families disseminated the style and techniques to cities and towns of the Duchy of Brabant and beyond.
For churches and other major buildings, the tenor prevailed and lasted throughout the Renaissance.




Harbingers


Brabantine Gothic, in a Low Countries context also referred to as High Gothic, differs from the earlier introduced Scheldt Gothic, which typically had the main tower above the crossing of a church, maintained Romanesque horizontal lines, and applied blue-gray stone quarried from the vicinity of Tournai at the river Scheldt that allowed its transportation in particular in the old County of Flanders.
Mosan Gothic (Meuse Gothic) refers to the river Maas (or Meuse, borrowed from French), mainly in the south-eastern parts of the Low Countries: the modern provinces of Limburg in the Netherlands, Limburg, and Liège in Belgium. Though of a later origin than Scheldt Gothic, it also still showed more Romanesque features, including smaller windows. Marlstone was used, and around the capitals on limestone columns are sculptured leaves of irises.




Characteristics






= Two centuries of Brabantine Gothic design

=
Surface conditions and available materials varied. Larger churches could take centuries of building during which expertise and fashions caused successive architects to evolve further from the original plans. Or, Romanesque churches became rebuilt in phases of dismantling and replacing, as (apart from its crypt) St. Bavo's Cathedral in Ghent: the early 14th-century chancel is influenced by northern French and Scheldt Gothic, a century later a radiating chapel appeared, and between 1462 and 1538 the mature Brabantine Gothic west tower was erected; the nave was then still to be finished.
Though few buildings are of an entirely consistent style, the ingenuity and craftsmanship of architects could realize a harmonious blend. The ultimate concepts were drawn centuries after the earliest designs. It follows that Brabantine Gothic style is neither homogeneous, nor strictly defined.




= Features

=
The Brabantine Gothic style originated with the advent of the Duchy of Brabant and spread across the Burgundian Netherlands. Besides minor influences by the High Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Mary in Cologne, the architecture builds on the classic French Gothic style as practiced in the construction of cathedrals such as those in Amiens and Reims.

The structure of the church buildings in Brabant was largely the same: a large-scale cruciform floor plan with three-tier elevation along the nave and side aisles (pier arches, triforium, clerestory) and a choir backed by a half-round ambulatory. The slender tallness of the French naves however, was never surpassed, and the size tended to be slightly more modest.

It is characterized by using light-coloured sandstone or limestone, which allowed rich detailing but is erosion-prone. The churches typically have round columns with cabbage foliage sculpted capitals. From there half-pillar buttresses continue often without interruption into the vault ribs. The triforium and the windows of the clerestory generally continue into one another, with the windows taking the entire space of the pointed arch. An ambulatory with radiating chapels (chevet) is part of the design (though at the 15th-century choir in Breda added later on). Whereas the cathedrals in Brussels and Antwerp are notable exceptions, the main porch is straight under the single west tower, in French called clocher-porche.

An alternative type originated with the cathedral of Antwerp: instead of round columns with a capital impost, bundled pillars profiled in the columns continue without interruption through the ribs of vaults and arches – a style followed for churches in 's-Hertogenbosch and Leuven. In addition, the pier arches between nave and aisles are exceptionally wide, and the triforium is omitted. Instead, a transom of tracery is placed above the pier arches. This type was followed by other major churches in Antwerp, St. Martin Church in Aalst, and St. Michael's Church in Ghent.
Demer Gothic in the Hageland and Campine Gothic are regional variants of Brabantine Gothic in the south-eastern part of the former duchy.
Those styles can be distinguished merely by the use of local rust-brown bricks.
Brabantine Gothic city halls are built in the shape of gigantic box reliquaries with corner turrets and usually a belfry. The exterior is often profusely decorated.




= Adaptations in Holland and of Zeeland

=

Many churches in the former Counties of Holland and Zeeland are built in a style sometimes inaccurately separated as Hollandic and as Zeelandic Gothic. These are in fact Brabantine Gothic style buildings with concessions necessitated by local conditions. Thus (except for Dordrecht), because of the soggy ground, weight was saved by wooden barrel vaults instead of stone vaults and the flying buttresses required for those. In most cases, the walls were made of bricks but cut natural stone was not unusual.
Everaert Spoorwater played an important role in spreading Brabantine Gothic into Holland and Zeeland. He perfected a method by which the drawings for large constructions allowed ordering virtually all natural stone elements from quarries on later Belgian territory, then at the destination needing merely their cementing in place. This eliminated storage near the construction site, and the work could be done without the permanent presence of the architect.




Renowned examples of Brabantine Gothic architecture






= In the former Duchy of Brabant

=



Ecclesiastical buildings

In order of the year mentioned for their earliest Brabantine Gothic style characteristics
St. Rumbold's Cathedral in Mechelen, early Gothic building started around 1200 and consecrated 1312, its first clearly Brabantine Gothic features: ambulatory and 7 radiant chapels from 1335, possibly by Jean d'Oisy
Church of Our Lady in Aarschot, from 1337 by Jacob Piccart
St. Martin's Basilica in Halle, from 1341 possibly by Jean d'Oisy
Collegiate Church of St. Peter and St. Guido in Anderlecht (Brussels), from 1350
Cathedral of Our Lady in Antwerp, from 1352
Church of Our Lady-at-the-Pool in Tienen, from 1358 by Jean d'Oisy
St. John's Cathedral in 's-Hertogenbosch, from about 1370, considered the height of Brabantine Gothic in the present-day Netherlands
St. Gummarus' Church in Lier, from 1378; the design of the choir is an imitation of that of St. Rumbold's at Mechelen.
Church of Our Lady-across-the-Dijle in Mechelen, from before 1400
St. Peter's Church in Leuven, from about 1400
St. Sulpicius and St. Denis Collegiate Church (colloq. St. Sulpicius Church) in Diest, from before 1402 start for a radiating chapel by the Frenchman Pierre de Savoye - Demer Gothic
St. Bavo's Cathedral in Ghent, from early 15th century
Large Church or Church of Our Lady in Breda, from 1410, considered the most pure and elegant Brabantine Gothic in the present-day Netherlands
Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula in Brussels
Church of Our Blessed Lady of the Sablon in Brussels
St. Martin's Church in Aalst
Gertrudiskerk in Bergen op Zoom




































Secular buildings

Brussels' Town Hall
Leuven's Town Hall
Margraves' Palace (Dutch: Markiezenhof) in Bergen op Zoom
Mechelen's Town Hall, north wing (in 1526 designed and partially built, 1900-1911 partially rebuilt and fully completed)
Oirschot's former Town Hall (Brick building that also housed the Vierschaar, in a minor town: characteristic shrine shape but extremely sober)
Round Table (Dutch: Tafelrond) in Leuven, 1479 by Matheus de Layens, guildhall built 1480-1487 internally comprising 3 houses, demolished 1817, reconstructed following original plans 1921





















= In the former Counties of Holland and of Zeeland

=



Ecclesiastical buildings

Large Church or Church of Our Lady in Dordrecht (Holland), the present form dates from 1470.
Large Church or Grote or Sint-Laurenskerk in Alkmaar (Holland)
Large Church or St. Grote of Sint-Laurenskerk in Rotterdam (Holland)
Large Church or Grote Kerk in Haarlem (Holland)
Highland Church or St. Pancras' Church in Leiden (Holland)
St Willibrordus in Hulst
Old Church, formerly St. Nicolas' Church, in Amsterdam (largest medieval wooden barrel vault in Europe; wooden spire)
St. Livinus' Monster Tower (Dutch: St.-Lievensmonstertoren) in Zierikzee (Zeeland) (separated by a gap from the meanwhile demolished church building)




































Secular buildings

Gouda's Town Hall (Holland)
Middelburg's Town Hall (Zeeland)

















= Elsewhere

=



Ecclesiastical buildings

St. Martin's Cathedral in Ypres, in the former County of Flanders
St. Michael's Church in Ghent, in the former County of Flanders
St. Willibrord's Basilica in Hulst, in Zeelandic Flanders: until 1648 in the County of Flanders, currently in the Province of Zeeland in the Netherlands
St. Waltrude Collegiate Church in Mons, in the former County of Hainaut (built with a hard sandstone and blue limestone)
St. Lambert's Church in Nederweert, until 1703 in the Prince-bishopric of Liège (though during a part of the 16th century County of Horn), currently in the Province of Limburg in the Netherlands
St. Martin's Cathedral or Domkerk in Utrecht, between Counties of Brabant and of Holland, and Duchy of Guelders in the Netherlands (Gothic church on an island in the Rhine, possibly directly inspired by the cathedral in Cologne, though it has a single west tower. This tower became a regional model referred to as Utrecht & Sticht Gothic).
















Secular buildings

Damme's Town Hall, in the former County of Flanders
Oudenaarde's Town Hall, in the former County of Flanders













Notes






References






Sources


Cammaerts, Emile. Belgium, From the Roman Invasion to the Present Day. T. Fisher Unwin Ltd, London, 1921 (republished by The Project Gutenberg eBook, 2008). p. 359.(Note: Several construction dates have become contradicted by more recent sources)
"History & styles: Gothic (1254-ca. 1600)". The virtual museum of religious architecture in The Netherlands. www.archimon.nl. Retrieved 13 July 2011.(On a specialized blog explicitly focusing on the present-day Netherlands, though a few of those described variant styles are prevalent in Belgium.)
"Steen: materialen, technieken en toepassingen" (PDF) (in Dutch). Heemkring Opwijk-Mazenzele, Belgium. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-06-26. Retrieved 14 July 2011.(Stone: materials, techniques, and applications - focused on Belgium and south-eastern Netherlands)
"Geschiedenis van de bouwkunst – Hoofdstuk 2 Gotische bouwkunst" (PDF) (in Dutch). Sint Lukas Kunsthumaniora, Belgium (Online tool for 5th and 6th year students of Architectural and Interior Arts). Retrieved 14 July 2011.(History of Gothic architecture - international, and specific attention for Belgium)
Defoort, Herman. "Gotische kunst". Websthetica, Tekststek voor kunst en esthetica sinds 2001 (in Dutch). Retrieved 15 July 2011. (Gothic - international, and specific attention for Brabantine Gothic)
Savenije, Marjan; Smelt, Susan. "Wat zijn de kenmerken van de gotische architectuur?" (PDF) (in Dutch). Rooms-Katholieke Scholengemeenschappen Pius X College en St.-Canisius, Almelo, Netherlands. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 March 2012. Retrieved 18 July 2011.(Sober description of Gothic styles in the Low Counties)
de Naeyer, André. "La reconstruction des monuments et des sites en Belgique après la première guerre mondiale" (Pdf 2.2 KB). Monumentum Vol. XX-XXI-XXII, 1982 (in French). Documentation Centre Unesco - Icomos. pp. 167–187. Retrieved 15 July 2011.(The Reconstruction of Monuments and Sites in Belgium after World War I)




External links


Fockema Andreae, S. J.; Hekker, R. C.; ter Kuile, E. H. Duizend jaar bouwen in Nederland (in Dutch). Vol. 2. Allert de Lange, Amsterdam (1957-1958) the Netherlands. Retrieved 19 July 2011. (1000 years of architectural history in the Netherlands)
"Het stenen landschap". Thuis in Brabant – Geschiedenis (in Dutch). Thuis in Brabant (Erfgoed Brabant), 's Hertogenbosch, Netherlands. Retrieved 18 July 2011. (Site about historical architecture in Brabant, focused on the Netherlands)
Brabantine Gothic at archINFORM

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

• Belanda
• Brabantine Gothic
• Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula
• Gothic cathedrals and churches
• St. John's Cathedral ('s-Hertogenbosch)
• Gothic Revival architecture
• Chapel Church
• Brussels Town Hall
• Jan van Ruysbroeck (architect)
• Church of Our Blessed Lady of the Sablon
• Jacob van Thienen