Un message oblique sous la croisée d’ogives ? La cathédrale d’Amiens sous le regard de Walter Pater et de John Ruskin

• Published in: Polysèmes no. 21
• Main Author: Charbonnier-Lambert, Martine
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Société des amis d'inter-textes (SAIT) 30.05.2019
• Subjects: Humanities and Social Sciences; Literature
• ISSN: 0999-4203
• DOI: 10.4000/polysemes.5182

As the gothic revival gathered pace in Victorian Britain, John Ruskin and Walter Pater commented on the aesthetic, social and spiritual dimension of medieval cathedrals—in particular Amiens Cathedral which they both considered as the jewel of the pointed style. Flying buttresses and pointed arches enabled cathedrals to reach an impressive height and to open up to natural light while calling for a renewal of faith and a finer perception of the outside world. The article is based on a comparative reading of The Bible of Amiens, published by Ruskin in 1881, and of the essay “Notre-Dame d’Amiens” written by Pater 13 years later which conveys both his admiration for and his disagreement with the famous Slade Professor. Another importance reference is Viollet-le-Duc, whose Dictionary of French Architecture was consulted by both authors. The two different interpretations of gothic architecture highlight the intellectual debate in a Victorian society grappling with doubt and relativism in the wake of scientific and technical progress. While Ruskin praises Amiens Cathedral for being the most consummate monument of Christian faith as craftsmen rediscovered real and divine beauty in nature, Pater celebrates the advent of the Renaissance as pagan naturalism inspired new aesthetics and renewed sensory perception in the Middle Ages. Their opposed interpretations of gothic statuary as enshrining Christian vices and virtues for Ruskin or illustrating scholastic philosophy for Pater do not only testify to the universal dimension of the Cathedral-“Bible” of Amiens, but they also invite readers to reflect on the moral and the spiritual dilemmas of the Victorian era.