Pointed arch

Corridor with pointed arches.

The pointed arch is an arch constructed from two circles with a point. It is considered a central element of Gothic architecture in architecture .

Construction and shapes

Pointed arches from left to right: normal pointed arch, pressed pointed arch and raised pointed arch (or lancet arch).

A pointed arch is constructed from four circles or their segments or arcs .

• In the so-called normal or equilateral pointed arch, the center points of the circle lie on the fighter points. The length of the circle radii corresponds to the arc span.
• When the pointed arch is pressed , the center points of the circle lie between the fighter points. The length of the circle radii is smaller than the arc span. The height of the vertex above the warriors is less than that of the normal pointed arch.
• In the case of a raised pointed arch , the center points of the circle lie outside the fighter points. The length of the circle radii is greater than the arc span. The height of the vertex above the warriors is greater than that of the normal pointed arch. This arch shape is also called a lancet arch . The underlying English lancet is derived from lance ( lance ) and alludes to the shape of a lance tip.

In a broader definition, arches that are constructed from more than two circular arcs also count as pointed arches, such as the curtain arch , the keel arch (or donkey back) and the Tudor arch . A seldom used term for the pointed arch construction is ogival (see " Ogive ").

The Gothic pointed arch

Gothic tracery window with pointed arch

General

The pointed arch is considered a central element of Gothic architecture . The term pointed arch style can also be found as an older term for Gothic architecture as such.

The first pointed arches were already found in Islamic architecture , especially at the time of the Abbasids . In the Burgundian Romanesque style, when the construction of the third abbey church of Cluny began in 1088, the pointed arch was used for arcades and vaults. Many of the 12th century successors in Burgundy followed this example. In Gothic sacral architecture ( St. Denis ) pointed arches were used from the first half of the 12th century. This arch form spread from France to Germany around 1200, was used until the early 16th century and was taken up again centuries later in the neo-Gothic era.

Lancet window

Triple lancet window with raised pointed arch in Salisbury Cathedral , 13th century

Twin lancet windows

The lancet window is a special form of the pointed arch window . It is a slender window with a raised pointed arch (lancet arch) at the end. The lancet window, like the lancet arch, is particularly an element of the English early Gothic. There this type of window was often used in groups. Examples of this are a simple lancet windows in Witney in the county of Oxfordshire in 1220, in a twin-lancet window Lincoln in 1250 and a lancet drilling window in Salisbury listed to the 13th century.. With a lancet triple window, the middle of the three windows overlooks the other two. The motif of the lancet triplet window is taken up again in historicism .

A pointed arch frieze is a frieze ornamentation developed in the Gothic style from small pointed arches.

literature

• Rudolf Wiegmann : Comments on the font “In which style should we build?” By Heinrich Hübsch . In: Kunstblatt 10, 1829, pp. 173-174, 177-179 and 181-183.
• Rudolf Wiegmann: The knight Leo von Klenze and our art. Carpenter, Düsseldorf 1839.
• Rudolf Wiegmann: Thoughts on the development of a contemporary national architectural style. In: Allgemeine Bauzeitung 1841, pp. 207–214.
• Rudolf Wiegmann: About the origin of the pointed arch style. With an appendix concerning the formation of an association for the history of medieval architecture. With a lithograph. Julius Buddeus, Düsseldorf 1842 (previously published in the Allgemeine Wiener Bauzeitung).

Web links

Commons : pointed arches  - collection of images, videos, and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Composition from Encyclopædia Britannica Online, Lemma lancet window , accessed on November 17, 2008
2. ↑ Composition based on Günther Wasmuth (ed.): Wasmuths Lexikon der Baukunst , Berlin, 1929–1932 (4 volumes), Lemma Spitzbogen
3. ↑ Entry ogival at Duden online , accessed on March 24, 2019
4. ↑ Composition according to Günther Wasmuth (ed.): Wasmuths Lexikon der Baukunst , Berlin, 1929–1932 (4 volumes), Lemma Spitzbogenstil
5. ^ ARD Tel Aviv: ( Memento from May 20, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Richard C. Schneider
6. ^ Fritz Baumgart: DuMont's small object dictionary of architecture , Cologne, 1977, Lemma Spitzbogen
7. ↑ ^{a b} sentence after Hans-Joachim Kadatz: Dictionary of Architecture , Leipzig, 1988, Lemma Spitzbogen
8. ↑ Composition based on Günther Wasmuth (ed.): Wasmuths Lexikon der Baukunst , Berlin, 1929–1932 (4 volumes), Lemma Lanzettbogen
9. ^ Sentence Hans Koepf , Günther Binding : Bildverzeichnis der Architektur (= Kröner's pocket edition . Volume 194). 4th, revised edition. Kröner, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-520-19404-X , Lemma Lanzettfenster
10. ^ Wilfried Koch: Architectural Style . Orbis-Verlag, Munich 1988, p. 196, 412
11. ↑ see the example given by Wilfried Koch on p. 412
12. ^ Georg Wilbertz : Style synthesis and language confusion. Theory and Critique of the “New” Style in the 19th Century. ( Memento of the original from June 6, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Page 8–10. (PDF file; 233 kB)