Gothic Style

The most famous of them all is Notre-Dame. These buildings are seen as the first examples of Gothic architecture, a style that spread swiftly across Europe and lasted until shortly after 1500. The tall, point-arched windows fitted with colourful stained glass made the church walls appear light and airy. Slender, strikingly ribbed columns supported the vaulted ceilings, and similarly slender flying buttresses topped by pinnacles strengthened the external walls. Sculptors influenced by Gothic architecture used elegant poses, calligraphic folds and elegant gestures to stylise their human, animal and floral figures. Gothic architectural influences gradually seeped into other art forms including painting, book illumination, silversmithing and furniture making. The Rijksmuseum collection holds numerous ecclesiastical objects in this style, such as painted altars, silver monstrances, boxwood prayer nuts and a small Christmas crib.