A recess for the reception of a statue, so designed as to give it emphasis, frame it
effectively, and afford some measure of protection. It hardly existed prior to the twelfth
century, and is one of the chief decorative characteristics of Gothic architecture. The
constant and often lavish use of sculptured images of the saints was an essential part of
the great style that was so perfectly to express the Catholic Faith, and that had its
beginnings in Normandy as a result of the great Cluniac reformation; and from the moment
the roughly chiseled bas-relief swelled into the round and detached figure, the unerring
artistic instinct of the medieval builders taught them -- as it had taught the Greeks --
that figure sculpture becomes architectural only when it is incorporated with the building
of which it is a part, by means of surrounding architectural forms that harmonize it with
the fabric itself. In Romanesque work this frame is little more than flanking shafts
supporting an arch, the statue being treated as an accessory, and given place wherever a
space of flat wall appeared between the columns and arches of the structural decoration.
The convenience, propriety and beauty of the arrangement were immediately apparent,
however, and thenceforward the development of the niche as an independent architectural
form was constant and rapid. Not only did the canopied niche assimilate the statue in the
architectural entity and afford it that protection from the weather so necessary in the
north; it also, in conjunction with the statue itself, produced one of the richest
compositions of line, light, and shade known to art. The medieval architects realized this
and seized upon it with avidity, using it almost as their chief means for obtaining those
spots and spaces of rich decoration that gave the final touch of perfection to their
marvelous fabrics. In the thirteenth century the wall became recessed to receive the
statue, the flanking shafts became independent supports for an arched and gabled canopy,
while a pedestal was introduced, still further to tie the sculpture into the architecture.
Later the section of the embrasure became hexagonal or octagonal, the arched canopy was
cusped, the gable enriched with crockets and pinnacles, and finally in the fourteenth and
fifteenth centuries the entire feature became almost an independent composition, the
canopy being developed into a thing of marvelous complexity and richness, while it was
lavished on almost every part of the building, from the doors to the spires, and within as
well as without. Protestant and revolutionary iconoclasm have left outside of France few
examples of niches properly filled by their original statues, but in such masterpieces of
art as the cathedrals of Paris, Chartres, Amiens, and Reims, one may see in their highest
perfection these unique manifestations of the subtlety and refinement of the perfect art
of Catholic civilization.
RALPH ADAMS CRAM Transcribed by Michael C. Tinkler
From the Catholic Encyclopedia, copyright © 1913 by the Encyclopedia
Press, Inc. Electronic version copyright © 1996 by New Advent, Inc., P.O. Box 281096,
Denver, Colorado, USA, 80228. (knight@knight.org) Taken from the New Advent Web Page
(www.knight.org/advent).
This article is part of the Catholic Encyclopedia Project, an effort
aimed at placing the entire Catholic Encyclopedia 1913 edition on the World Wide Web. The
coordinator is Kevin Knight, editor of the New Advent Catholic Website. If you would like
to contribute to this worthwhile project, you can contact him by e- mail at
(knight.org/advent).
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