From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Spires in Gothic architecture
Flèche of
Sainte-Chapelle , Île de la Cité, designed by
Jean-Baptiste Lassus .
[1]
Two pictures of
Notre-Dame de Paris with its 19th century flèche, lost to fire in 2019.
Flèche of
St Michael's Castle ,
St Petersburg , designed by
Vasily Bazhenov .
[2]
Model of the flèche of
Notre-Dame de Paris made for
Eugène Viollet-le-Duc (1859) (Museum of Historic Monuments, Paris)
A flèche (French:
[flɛʃ] ;
French for 'arrow')
[3] is the name given to
spires in
Gothic architecture . In French, the word is applied to any spire, but in English it has the technical meaning of a spirelet or spike on the rooftop of a building.
[4]
[5] In particular, the spirelets often built atop the
crossings of major churches in mediaeval
French Gothic architecture are called flèches.
[5]
On the ridge of the roof on top of the crossing (the intersection of the
nave and the
transepts ) of a church, flèches were typically light, delicate, timber-framed constructions with a metallic sheath of lead or copper.
[6] They are often richly decorated with architectural and sculptural embellishments:
tracery ,
crockets , and miniature
buttresses serve to adorn the flèche.
[6]
Flèches are often very tall: the
Gothic Revival
spire of Notre-Dame de Paris (1858–2019) by
Eugène Viollet-le-Duc was about 100 feet (30 m) before its destruction in the
Notre-Dame de Paris fire , while the 16th century flèche of
Amiens Cathedral is 148 feet (45 m) high.
[6]
The highest flèche in the world was built at the end of the 19th century for
Rouen Cathedral , 157 metres (515 ft) high in total.
[7]
A short spire or flèche surrounded by a
parapet is common on churches in
Hertfordshire ; as a result, this type of flèche is called a
Hertfordshire spike .
[8]
The Gothic Revival flèche on the St. Peter's Church of Leuven, Belgium.
See also
Notes
^ Curl, James Stevens; Wilson, Susan, eds. (2015),
"Lassus, Jean-Baptiste-Antoine" , A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (3rd ed.),
Oxford University Press ,
doi :
10.1093/acref/9780199674985.001.0001 ,
ISBN
978-0-19-967498-5 , retrieved 2020-05-27
^ Curl, James Stevens; Wilson, Susan, eds. (2015),
"Bazhenov, Vasily Ivanovich" , A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (3rd ed.), Oxford University Press,
doi :
10.1093/acref/9780199674985.001.0001 ,
ISBN
978-0-19-967498-5 , retrieved 2020-05-27
^
"spirelet" .
CollinsDictionary.com .
HarperCollins . Retrieved 2020-05-21 .
^ Curl, James Stevens; Wilson, Susan, eds. (2015).
"spire" . A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press.
doi :
10.1093/acref/9780199674985.001.0001 .
ISBN
978-0-19-967498-5 . Retrieved 2020-05-27 .
^
a
b Curl, James Stevens; Wilson, Susan, eds. (2015),
"flèche" , A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (3rd ed.), Oxford University Press,
doi :
10.1093/acref/9780199674985.001.0001 ,
ISBN
978-0-19-967498-5 , retrieved 2020-05-27
^
a
b
c
"Flèche | architecture" . Britannica . Retrieved 2017-12-14 .
^ Causarano, Marie Ange (2009-12-30).
"La cattedrale e la città: il cantiere del Duomo di Siena. Risultati delle indagini archeologiche" . Arqueología de la Arquitectura (6): 199–224.
doi :
10.3989/arqarqt.2009.09013 .
ISSN
1989-5313 .
^ Curl, James Stevens; Wilson, Susan, eds. (2015),
"Hertfordshire spike" , A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (3rd ed.), Oxford University Press,
doi :
10.1093/acref/9780199674985.001.0001 ,
ISBN
978-0-19-967498-5 , retrieved 2020-05-27