Talk:Influences upon Gothic architecture

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Middle Ages

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Problems with the lead of this article and rest of content

Hi all,

I think the lead of this article is tendentious, poorly cited (actually there are no citations), and misleading. For example "the desire to express grandeur" is something which is common to almost all forms of monumental architecture from classical to Romanesque to Gothic to high Modernism. The relationship with the expanding urban life of the late middle ages is an interesting idea but not something I have ever seen argued seriously in the scholarship.

The 'religious' section is almost entirely lacking in non-failed citations. There is an intrinsic problem here which is that listing many many different religious orders, monastic or otherwise, does not prove the idea that Christianity was specifically influential in the development of Gothic. It is obviously the case that late Antique churches which were just as Christian as Gothic ones were built in the classical style. Romanesque churches were no less Christian because they had round arches rather than pointed arches. To make the mistake of conflating Gothic with Christianity is to get stuck in the rut formed by Pugin, who argued Gothic was 'Christian Architecture'—this had a lot to do with Victorian religious revivals and emancipation of catholics and next to nothing about architectural history.

I'm writing this as a statement of intent to completely overhaul this page starting with its introduction and the 'religion' section. There is a lot of work to done but I will do my best, cite frequently, and explain my reasoning with each step.

Thanks Le nain bros (talk) 15:30, 7 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Oh, another point which is very important is that this article conflates the spread of Gothic with the genesis of Gothic. These are very different things. It's often a lot easier to 'prove' the spread of an idea art historically rather than actually pin down the reasons behind its development in the first place... Le nain bros (talk) 15:31, 7 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]