"We must therefore say that the allegorical interpretation can have an effect on form by molding it to portray the meaning attributed to it, but it can also have no effect on form whatever" Günter Bandmann, Mittelalterliche Architektur als Bedeutungstrëger. Berlin : 1951. p. 70. ARCHITECTURE INDEX .

Magister operis The designers and architects of the Gothic period, the stonemasons whom contemporary freemasons make some claim to lineage, left little record other than their works. The patron and client for the first Gothic style building, Abbot Suger, wrote his thoughts on the symbolism of the choir at St. Denis, built between 1140-44, but did not record the architect’s name. Of the architects for Salisbury and Lincoln Cathedrals, as well as Notre Dame, Dijon; Notre Dame, Paris; St. Rèmi, Reims; and Châlons-sur-Marne, nothing is known. The names of Robert de Luzarches, Thomas de Cormont and Renaud de Cormont could once be found on an inlaid "labyrinth" in the floor of the nave of Amiens Cathedral, built between 1220-1236, but this has not been preserved. Noteworthy are the names of Jean d'Orbais, Jean de Loup, Gaucher de Reims, Bernard de Soisons, who designed Reims cathedral, begun in 1211. Jean d'Orbais' design for the tracery window was the first of its kind. Hans Stethaimer designed the late Gothic Franciscan church in Salzburg; Pierre de Corbie devised the choir plan at Lausanne with Villard de Honnecourt; and Peter Parler designed the Cathedral in Prague in 1353. In some cases, while we don't know who designed the original buildings, we will have some record of those who either completed or modified them. The foundation stone for Notre Dame, Paris, was laid 1163 but it was not until c.1250 that a record is made that Jean de Chelles designed the transept façades. Chartres Cathedral, begun in 1194, was not completed until c. 1500 when Jean Texier, perhaps the last Gothic architect, topped the North Tower. This is not a complete list but it makes the point that we know few names of these master craftsmen, and we know even less of their lives. A full study into these men would be a worthy topic for masonic scholarship. High Gothic, The Classic Cathedrals of Chartres, Reims and Amiens, Hans Jantzen. Princeton : Princeton University Press, 1984 c. 1957, ISBN: 0-691-00372-6 pb 14mm x 21 1/2mm 181pp. Image: Chartres Cathedral.

ANTI-MASONRY | ESSAYS & PAPERS | GRAND LODGE OF BC AND YUKON | HOME | LINKS | SITEMAP

© 1871-2023 Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon A.F. & A.M. Updated: 2003/01/02 freemasonry.bcy.ca/architecture/architects.html