The Gothic Cathedral as a Theological and Aesthetic Project

Abstract

The Gothic cathedral is above all a great theological project in which both architecture, engineering and aesthetics are subordinated to one thought: to show the mysteries of faith, its depth and metaphysical beauty through material features. Moreover, the art of Gothic cathedrals had other functions and purposes than contemporary sacred art. It was not designed as an artificial, illusory world, it was not a form of escape from the ordinary. For a man of the Middle Ages, the cathedral was real in that it defined the most important things. It was not contractual, but stemmed from timeless premises; it was not an illusion aimed at escaping the truth, but defined is very core.