Roman architecture, upon standardized forms. At Chartres, Soissons, and Cologne, the
prefabrication, which extended to pier components, vault ribs, triforium shafts, and
window tracery, permitted the separation of cutting and place-ment procedures. These
elements could thus be prepared during the winter months, when inclement weather
halted active construction, then rapidly installed. Amiens cathedral (begun 1221) reached
an even higher degree of rationalization, likely based on production models offered by
the local textile industry: the nave piers were assembled from only three elements, the
engaged piers from two, and the wall-masonry courses were regularized. A complete
uniformity of stonework was achieved at the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris (1241–48).
These new production techniques led to a greater specialization and division of labor
as well as a marked rise of the master mason’s social status. He increasingly focused on
the graphic design of forms and the coordination of production activity at the quarry and
in the lodge, leaving the actual cutting of stone to a second-in-command, the
appareilleur. From the mid-13th century on, the stratified workshop organization,
together with the use of drawing as a standard procedure, allowed the architect to
supervise several projects simultaneously. The names of masters were now recorded in
building records, their achievements celebrated on tombstones and in inscriptions. Pierre
de Montreuil, a Parisian master who died in 1267, was vaunted as a “teacher of masons”
(doctor lathomorum); the Late Gothic architect Martin Chambiges, who oversaw major
projects in Beauvais, Sens, and Troyes, was called supremus artifex during his lifetime.
No longer a mere craftsman, the Gothic master mason brought his awesome structures
into being through his practical organizational abilities, his technical skills, and his gift of
design, which seemed a reflection of divine creativity.
Michael T.Davis
[See also: CHAMBIGES, MARTIN; CLUNY; CONQUES; CONVENT
ARCHITECTURE; DIJON; GERMIGNY-DES-PRÉS; GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE;
JOUARRE; MENDICANT ART AND ARCHITECTURE; PIERRE DE MONTREUIL;
PREMONSTRATENSIAN ARCHITECTURE; ROMANESQUE ARCHITECTURE;
SAINT-DENIS; TOULOUSE; TOURNUS; VÉZELAY; VILLARD DE
HONNECOURT]
Armi, C.Edson. Masons and Sculptors in Romanesque Burgundy: The New Aesthetic of Cluny III. 2
vols. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1983.
Barral i Altet, Xavier, ed. Artistes, artisans, et production artistique au moyen âge. 3 vols. Paris:
Picard, 1986–90.
Bony, Jean. French Gothic Architecture of the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries. Berkeley:
University of California Press, 1983.
Bucher, François. “Medieval Architectural Design Methods, 800–1560.” Gesta 11(1972):37–51.
Conant, Kenneth J. Carolingian and Romanesque Architecture, 800–1200. 3rd ed. New York:
Penguin, 1974.
Fitchen, J. The Construction of Gothic Cathedrals: A Study of Medieval Vault Erection. Oxford:
Clarendon, 1961.
Harvey, J.H. The Medieval Architect. London: Wayland, 1972.
Hubert, J., J.Porcher, and W.-F.Volbach. Europe of the Invasions, trans. S.Gilbert and J.Emmons.
New York: Braziller, 1969.
Kimpel, Dieter. “Le développement de la taille en série dans l’architecture médiévale et son role
dans l’histoire économique.” Bulletin monumental 135(1977):195–222.
——, and Robert Suckale. Die gotische Architektur in Frankreich, 1130–1270. Munich: Hirmer,
1985.
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