14th century english building style of window tracery

Decorative, geometric architectural pattern cut from stone or made of bricks, used to fill the upper part of the gothic windows, open-works, rosettes, etc. It also appears as a decoration of walls, gables and blendes. Then it is called a blind tracery. The first tracery appeared in the chapels of the Notre Dame cathedral in Reims around 1230. With time the tracery became more and more openwork, and the geometric elements used in them became increasingly complex. Initially it was a combination of wheels, hexagons, pointed bends. In the mature and late gothic, the motif of the fish bladder and the four and tri leafs were used.

14th century english building style of window tracery

tracery in the window of the royal palace in Barcelona, Catalonia, photo: J.Michalew

14th century english building style of window tracery

tracery in the window of St Vitus Cathedral in Prague, Czech Republic, photo by J.Michalew

14th century english building style of window tracery

tracery in the window of the Cathedral of St John the Baptist in Wrocław, photo by J.Michalew

14th century english building style of window tracery

tracery in the window of the Upper Castle in Malbork, Poland

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Kristen Lopez, Stephanie Przybylek
  • Kristen Lopez

    Kristen has eight years teaching experience and holds a license in the state of Wisconsin. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of Florida. Her area of expertise is American History and World War II.

    View bio
  • Instructor Stephanie Przybylek

    Stephanie has taught studio art and art history classes to audiences of all ages. She holds a master's degree in Art History.

    View bio

Learn about Gothic tracery in architecture. Read about tracery in windows and stone. Find out about plate tracery, bar tracery, geometric tracery, and blind tracery. Updated: 05/07/2022

An innovative architectural style emerged in the late 12th century from a suburb north of Paris. Despite the fact that the Medieval Ages are thought to be a return to barbarism and a loss of knowledge, Europe built some of its most stunning structures during the Gothic era. The term Gothic refers to architectural design that explored the possibilities of vertical space. By redirecting weight to supporting columns, pointed arches allowed ceilings and windows to grow taller. The Gothic style prioritized aesthetics, and the elaborate ornamentation reflects cultural refinement rather than the misguided notion of middle-age barbarism.

As arches and windows grew in height, Gothic tracery added extra support and decoration. Tracery was the framework with an interior made up of intertwining pieces. In windows, stone bars or ribs secured pieces of glass. Occasionally, tracery in circular windows produced a shape known as a petal. Other motifs included the arch, which had pointed ends and foils, which had several lobes. The trefoil had three lobes, and the quatrefoil had four lobes. Foils often resembled leaves, specifically clovers.

Tracery in Architecture

In the 12th century, architects began using gothic tracery to divide windows into various shapes and sizes. Stone bars and molded ribs provided both structural support and secured the glass in windows. Historians believe the phrase derived from the tracing floors used in late Gothic construction to lay out complicated patterns of windows.

Gothic Architecture and Stained Glass Windows

If you've ever stood inside an old cathedral, you know how beautiful the massive stained glass windows can be. Well, the creation of such windows dates back to medieval times.

Some of Europe's most beautiful buildings were created during the Gothic period. Gothic refers to an architectural style during the 12th-16th centuries that emphasized vertical space. It used elements such as pointed arches and foils, which are shapes with several lobes. Two types of foils include the trefoil, with three lobes, and the quatrefoil, with four. Think of these as very stubby clovers.

Pointed arches and foils were often used in windows, and during the Gothic period, windows gradually became larger. Inside the windows, tracery was often used. In Gothic architecture, tracery in windows refers to the stone bars, ribs, or other supports between sections of glass that have decorative as well as utilitarian qualities. Tracery, which is often made of stone, gives the impression of a frame or outline and forms a pattern of interlacing or interconnected lines. In large circular windows, tracery sometimes forms shapes called petals.

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Tracery Design

From the mid-12th to the 16th centuries, Gothic architects created an exciting new art form. They used a masonry building style characterized by vaulted spaces with overlaid tracery to break up the large expanse of walls. This innovative new style gave rise to a plethora of techniques and motifs.

Plate Tracery

Plate tracery was the earliest form of window tracery. It allowed a window arch to have more than one light source. Often windows were built side by side and separated by stone spandrels, which were the triangle-shaped spaces between the shoulders of adjacent arches and the ceiling. Gothic tracery can also be found on a tympanum, the semicircular area above the door frame of an arched entrance way.

The name derived from its appearance of being cut from a plate of masonry. As the buttressing systems of early Gothic architecture reduced the structural need for broad expanses of thick walls, window openings grew progressively larger and more numerous. Examples include the 12th-century windows of Chartres Cathedral and Lincoln Cathedral.

Plate Tracery

14th century english building style of window tracery

Bar Tracery and Geometric Tracery

At the beginning of the 13th century, bar tracery replaced plate tracery when architects used bar tracery in the aisle windows of Reims Cathedral. In bar tracery, the mullions, the bars between panes of glass in windows, extended beyond the tops of the windows. Mullions in bar tracery windows were much thinner than the mullions in plate-tracery windows, and the spandrels could also be carved to let in light. This divided the open spandrels above the windows into a variety of decorative shapes. This technique maximized the amount of light that could be let in.

Geometric tracery gets its name from the patterns of foiled arches and circles with triangular shapes in between. It had an equilateral legal rule in its early phases, where the tracery pattern followed the curve of the arch. Foliation, or the spherical triangle, was used to add more decoration. The use of spherical triangles is a later development that may have religious significance. This variety of tracery can be seen in the aisles of the Lincoln Cathedral in London.

Reims Cathedral

14th century english building style of window tracery

Rose Windows

The rose window was a circular design that could be an open window or decorated with stained glass. Triangular, round, or diamond shapes emanated from a circle-marked central point. Architects employed plate tracing techniques during the early Gothic Period. However, this allowed for little light or complexity and was largely replaced with bar tracery by the 13th century. The Rayonnant style, named after the way lights radiate from a central point, boosted the amount of light by increasing window size and numbers. The rose windows of Notre-Dame de Paris are a classic example of the Rayonnant style.

The rose window transformed further when architects employed flamboyant tracery. Radiating parts were constructed using wavy, double-curved bars that created new geometric and flame shapes, while also adding structural strength to the design. A good example is the early 1600s transept rose of the Beauvais cathedral.

Rose windows were often placed above doorways, or in transept gables. Transept gables were additional rooms that cut across basilicas in a perpendicular manner. From above, the church would then resemble a cross.

Rose Window

14th century english building style of window tracery

Perpendicular Gothic Tracery

The last major Gothic style, Perpendicular Tracery, made its debut in England during the late Middle Ages. Stained glass windows grew so large that the walls separating them were reduced to the size of columns. Architects added transoms, which were horizontal beams or bars, to provide additional support. Towers grew taller and some featured crenellations, the squared opening intervals found on forts and castles. Tracery remained a significant feature of the period's decoration. Large buildings featured tracery panels made of stone mullions that ran the length of the structure. Additionally, tracery was widely used on the interior, extending motifs from the window to the floor.

Perpendicular Tracery

14th century english building style of window tracery

How Tracery Developed

European tracery may have developed in a basic form in the Byzantine architecture of late antiquity, but it found widespread use in the Gothic style of the early 12th century. As Gothic architecture developed through several phases, tracery became more complex, conveying a sense of lightness even though it was made of stone.

One of the earliest forms of tracery was plate tracery, so called because it looked like a large plate pierced with openings. Simple tracery elements were used in areas of Gothic windows called the tympanum, the section of wall between the tops of a series of smaller arches and a larger arch above them covering the whole group. By using tracery, builders could increase the number of windows in sections of a structure.

In early Gothic buildings, the tracery was simple and geometric. By the end of the 13th century, it had become more freeform, employing curving lines and interlocking shapes. Some outstanding examples of Gothic tracery can be seen in rose windows, large circular windows that are also called wheel windows. Here's a rose window from Chartres Cathedral in Paris (the window dates to circa 1230) and a drawing of one from Lincoln Cathedral in England (the latter dates to ca. 1225). Each includes wonderful examples of tracery.

Example of a rose window with tracery in Chartres Cathedral. Note that it also has a row of stained glass windows separated by simple bars of tracery below it
14th century english building style of window tracery
Drawing with an external view of the tracery in a rose window in Lincoln Cathedral. Notice also the four trefoils in this window
14th century english building style of window tracery

Another tracery style, the perpendicular style, developed in England in the 14th century. Rather than rounded and curving forms, it emphasized verticality. A good example of perpendicular tracery can be seen in this window from King's College Chapel in Cambridge.

Example of perpendicular tracery from Kings College Chapel. Notice how the tracery emphasizes the vertical thrust of the windows
14th century english building style of window tracery

Gothic Architecture and Stained Glass Windows

If you've ever stood inside an old cathedral, you know how beautiful the massive stained glass windows can be. Well, the creation of such windows dates back to medieval times.

Some of Europe's most beautiful buildings were created during the Gothic period. Gothic refers to an architectural style during the 12th-16th centuries that emphasized vertical space. It used elements such as pointed arches and foils, which are shapes with several lobes. Two types of foils include the trefoil, with three lobes, and the quatrefoil, with four. Think of these as very stubby clovers.

Pointed arches and foils were often used in windows, and during the Gothic period, windows gradually became larger. Inside the windows, tracery was often used. In Gothic architecture, tracery in windows refers to the stone bars, ribs, or other supports between sections of glass that have decorative as well as utilitarian qualities. Tracery, which is often made of stone, gives the impression of a frame or outline and forms a pattern of interlacing or interconnected lines. In large circular windows, tracery sometimes forms shapes called petals.

How Tracery Developed

European tracery may have developed in a basic form in the Byzantine architecture of late antiquity, but it found widespread use in the Gothic style of the early 12th century. As Gothic architecture developed through several phases, tracery became more complex, conveying a sense of lightness even though it was made of stone.

One of the earliest forms of tracery was plate tracery, so called because it looked like a large plate pierced with openings. Simple tracery elements were used in areas of Gothic windows called the tympanum, the section of wall between the tops of a series of smaller arches and a larger arch above them covering the whole group. By using tracery, builders could increase the number of windows in sections of a structure.

In early Gothic buildings, the tracery was simple and geometric. By the end of the 13th century, it had become more freeform, employing curving lines and interlocking shapes. Some outstanding examples of Gothic tracery can be seen in rose windows, large circular windows that are also called wheel windows. Here's a rose window from Chartres Cathedral in Paris (the window dates to circa 1230) and a drawing of one from Lincoln Cathedral in England (the latter dates to ca. 1225). Each includes wonderful examples of tracery.

Example of a rose window with tracery in Chartres Cathedral. Note that it also has a row of stained glass windows separated by simple bars of tracery below it
14th century english building style of window tracery
Drawing with an external view of the tracery in a rose window in Lincoln Cathedral. Notice also the four trefoils in this window
14th century english building style of window tracery

Another tracery style, the perpendicular style, developed in England in the 14th century. Rather than rounded and curving forms, it emphasized verticality. A good example of perpendicular tracery can be seen in this window from King's College Chapel in Cambridge.

Example of perpendicular tracery from Kings College Chapel. Notice how the tracery emphasizes the vertical thrust of the windows
14th century english building style of window tracery

What is a Gothic window called and why?

A common window design was the rose window. It featured a radial design of petals shapes around a circle. Its floral appearance inspired the name.

What materials are used in the tracery in Gothic windows?

Stone was carved into intricate designs known as tracery. Windows were laid with glass, often stained glass, or left open.

What is blind tracery?

Blind tracery was another progression of bar tracery. Blind tracery made use of openwork, a method for decorating a solid object by constructing holes, perforations, or gaps to fill a frame.

What are two elements used in designing traceries?

The two main styles of tracery are place tracery and bar tracery. For plate tracery, artists carved a plate of stone. Bar tracery utilized molded mullions, making them lighter than plate tracery.

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