The Gothic Cathedral as a Theological and Aesthetic Project

Roman Konik

doi:10.15633/lie.4175

The Gothic Cathedral as a Theological and Aesthetic Project

Authors

Roman Konik University of Wroclaw

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15633/lie.4175

Keywords:

Gothic cathedral, Gothic art, aesthetics, philosophy of art, scholastics, claritas

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.

Author Biography

Roman Konik, University of Wroclaw

Roman Konik, professor of the University of Wrocław, head of the Department of Aesthetics at the Institute of Philosophy, deals with aesthetics, philosophy of art, author of monographs Between Object and Representation (Wrocław 2013), Percepcja. Between Aesthetics and Epistemology (with prof. Damian Leszczyński; Wrocław 2010), and numerous scientific articles on the theory of imaging, psychology of perception, theory of imagination, co-founder and editor of the philosophical quarterly “Studia Philosophica Wratislaviensia,” president of the association Polish Philosophical Forum.

References

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Published

2021-12-16

Issue

Vol. 58 No. 2 (2021)

Section

Articles

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