“If the Iconographic shows man in Heaven, the Gothic shows man here on earth, still struggling, still on the pilgrim path that leads to Heaven.”   The Iconographic vs The Gothic The Gothic form is sometimes regarded as a degradation of the Iconographic, a slippery slope that ends in aContinue Reading

“For the Gothic artist the clarity of the image, the truth that was depicted, was more important than an illusion of reality” Buildings in the Gothic Form The artist of the Gothic period strove for simplicity and clarity. They would often sacrifice realism in order to create a work thatContinue Reading

“The story of Noah is the story of God uncreating the world in order to create it anew.” In terms of style and symbolism the Iconographic and the Gothic are closely related. The Gothic is sometimes referred to as a more naturalized version of the Iconographic. As contemporary artists rediscoverContinue Reading

“With the expulsion from the Garden we begin a cycle.” It can be difficult to formulate “rules” for an artistic form because we can almost always find an example that breaks the rule. There really are no rules when it comes to the Gothic form. There is received sacred traditionContinue Reading

“Man is different from all the other creatures” MS M.638, fol. 1v illustrates Genesis 1:20 to Genesis 3:6, the Fifth Day of Creation to the Forbidden Fruit. The angels continue to praise God during the creation of the fifth and sixth days. In the Iconographic tradition a gold background representsContinue Reading

From the Rheinau Psalter, circa A.D. 1260 In his book “The Spirit of the Liturgy,” Cardinal Ratzinger, Pope Benedict XVI, touches upon the difference between the Iconographic art form and the Gothicart form. “The depiction(in the Gothic) is no longer of the Pantocrator, the Lord of all, leading us intoContinue Reading