We all have a general idea of how we should behave in a church or other religious areas. However, I’m sure many people have never considered how certain aspects or characteristics of a church provide us with clues as to how we‘re to act in that space.
The image on the right is a view of the nave in the Amiens Cathedral. Built between 1220 and 1270, the Amiens Cathedral “is considered one of the three masterpieces of the French High Gothic” (Abercrombie, 146). The Amiens is known for its sheer size, which is one of the prominent aspects of the space that tells people how to behave. “The nave is 40 feet wide, an impressive 470 feet long, and an even more impressive 140 feet high…[which is] as tall as a modern fourteen-story office building” (Abercrombie, 147). The main function of the Amiens Cathedral was to serve as a place to worship and praise God and to atone for sins. The design and grand scale of the Cathedral reflects God - strong, powerful, and larger-than life. Thus, the occupants of the space were supposed to feel small and inferior in comparison. The scale of Amiens was purposefully used to make the occupants feel as if they were in a sacred space, separated from the rest of the world, where they could focus solely on God and his importance.
Natural light was also incorporated into the space to remind its occupants of God. Natural light back in the 13th century was very symbolic of the unintelligible Light, or God in His transcendent glory (Auentios, 4). Natural light filled Amiens from every angle, which made the light, or God, almost impossible to ignore.
The vaulted ceiling also played a key role in effecting peoples’ behaviors. Vaulted ceilings were commonly used in Gothic cathedrals to provide adequate acoustics. Amiens Cathedral is very large and could hold many people, which made it important for everyone to be able to hear the priest, the choir, etc. However, better acoustics also meant that the faintest sounds or noises would be picked up and heard throughout the space. The acoustics restricted people from becoming too loud or creating too much noise; people were to sit calmly and quietly, which corresponds with the main function of Amiens Cathedral: to reflect on God.
How would you feel if you were to worship in the Amiens Cathedral? Would you feel comfortable? Would the size and scale of the Cathedral overwhelm you?
(The first image can be found in Abercombie’s book. And the second image can be found at this website http://history.hanover.edu/courses/art/amienn.jpg)
Abercombie, Stanley and Sherrill Whiton. Interior Design and Decoration. 6th ed. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, 2007.
Auentios. “The Humanist Quest for a Unity of Knowledge and the Orthodox Metaphysics of Light.”
I feel as though worship in Amiens Cathedral would be seriously limited. As you were saying before, every faint sound and noise would be amplified. The churches I am used to going to are large, but also offer a more personal experience. They encourage people to worship how they feel necessary and I feel in this cathedral I would have to act in a stricter manner. I understand the symbolism for the materials and way the space is oriented, but it would just make me personally feel uncomfortable. It is almost a condescending or judgmental feeling you get like when you were a kid and did something bad standing next to your mother and knew your every move was being watched. It would be a beautiful place to visit and the architecture is amazing, I would just be too overwhelmed to worship there.
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