Cologne Cathedral: Front View
One image from history class that resonates with me is the Gothic Cathedral. Dating back to the mid 12th century, these cathedrals embody the Gothic art form. They stand tall, with a magnificent yet intimidating feeling about them. Used by the Catholic Church to invoke a feeling of power, these churches still can strike emotion today into the hearts of people. This timeless impression is exactly why I chose to visit this art form. It supports my belief that art is a powerful form a communication, capable of spanning across time.
The Gothic church I looked at specifically was the Cologne cathedral. I felt while all Gothic cathedrals left the same overall impression, this one in general captured my emotions. When I first looked at a picture of the Cologne Cathedral, a couple words came to mind: powerful, intimidating, magnificent, massive. However these words can’t truly describe the feelings this cathedral struck into me. Feelings that I can only imagine would be much stronger in person. But it doesn’t really matter whether its in person, nor does it matter what picture you look at, the message the Catholic church originally intended still reaches us today; a message or strength and power.
Cologne Cathedral: Side View
Perhaps this message strikes more than just I, because almost every picture you find will be taken at an angle from the bottom up. This angle emphasizes the cathedral’s size, making it appear more intimidating, looming over you.
For this project, I interviewed my brother, Mike. Mike is a high school Junior who isn’t a huge fan of most art, but does greatly appreciate music. His first impression sums his overall view on the Gothic cathedral, “I don’t really see the big deal”. I asked him what the building made him feel, it must not have been significant because he looked slightly confused on how to answer. I went on to explain how I believe architecture is a form of art. “Makes sense”, he replied. I went further to briefly explain how the structure made me feel and then asked if he now had any feelings from the cathedral. His overall view seemed unchanged, “I understand where you’re coming from, and I can kind of see it. But I just don’t feel the same way”. I was baffled. I understand that art is a flexible term, but I found it weird that my own brother didn’t have remotely similar beliefs; that something which held so much meaning to me, struck nothing in him. In one last attempt to invoke feeling in him, I gave him history on the churches and what they were built to represent. I asked him one more time if this invoked any new feelings, but he remained fairly confident in his initial beliefs, “ I can now see what they were going for, but it still really doesn’t change how I feel”. Slightly defeated, I decided I should try to understand where he was coming from. I asked him why he didn’t feel that this building was art, to which he responded, “I guess it just doesn’t really seem creative to me. I mean it’s just a building, not much else”. I finally concluded that we would never see this building similarly and agreed to disagree.
Cologne Cathedral: Lit Up Angle View
While my brother didn’t feel much towards the Cologne cathedral, it doesn’t change how it makes me feel. Revisiting the picture a couple weeks later, it still invoked the same powerful emotions of strength and intimidation. I would love to someday visit this landmark in person. My brother’s views on the matter though does further help me understand how hard it is to define art. How can you define something that everyone sees differently? Perhaps the only definition we can come to on art, are personal ones for ourselves.
Works Cited
Doychinov, Yavor. “Lighted Cologne Cathedral.” Cologne Cathedral, A Beautiful Gothic World Heritage Site, BoomsBeat, 2 May 2014, www.boomsbeat.com/articles/1876/20140502/cologne-cathedral-a-beautiful-gothic- world-heritage-site.htm.
Dr FumbleFinger. “Cologne Cathedral Side View.” Cologne Cathedral, WeNeedFun, 2011, weneedfun.com/cologne-cathedral/.
Nev 360. “Cologne Cathedral Front View.” Preview: Cologne Cathedral , Blogger, 19 Aug. 2013, www.nevworldwonders.com/2013/08/preview-cologne-cathedral.html.
