Notre-Dame of Paris and the Anticipation of Gothic

Abstract

This essay seeks to animate the debate over the original form of the twelfth-century cathedral of Notre-Dame of Paris. The problem is first located within a historiographic framework, and then the four existing interpretations are elucidated. A limited archaeological exercise allows certain clear conclusions to be reached, notably, that the twelfth-century Parisian cathedral probably already incorporated long-reach flying buttresses much like the present units. Thus, Notre-Dame of Paris regains its place as a masterpiece of engineering ingenuity achieved as Paris became the capital city and France began to assume the geographical shape that we know today.