Gothic Pride: The Story of Building a Great Cathedral in Newark

Glossary

See appendix A for a floor plan of Sacred Heart Cathedral. aisle. Part of a church parallel to the nave and divided from it by an arcade of columns, thus providing a passageway. altar. Stone or wood table that is the most important item in a church because the Eucharist is celebrated on it. ambulatory. A processional aisle around the apse, surrounding the altar and giving access to chapels. apse. Part of a church projecting from the east or altar end, semicircular or polygonal in shape. See also chancel. arcade. Series of arches supported by columns. arch. Masonry construction for spanning an opening and supporting the weight above it. Arches can be rounded or pointed. Pointed arches are found in Gothic architecture. archbishop. Head of an archdiocese. archdiocese. Diocese under an archbishop’s jurisdiction, usually with general oversight of other dioceses. baldachin. Ornamental canopy over an altar. baptistery. Portion of a church for conducting the sacrament of baptism, the initiation rite for Christians; it contains the font used in performing the rite. Baroque. Style of architecture in Europe during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries . Based on Renaissance style, it is more ornamental and elaborate. bay. Unit of division marking the space between columns or vertical elements. Beaux Arts. Style of architecture influenced by the teaching at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, often monumental, with elaborate classical features. Popular in the United States beginning in the late nineteenth century. bell cote. Small structure over the gable of a church for holding a bell. boss. Projecting ornament covering the intersection of the ribs of a vault at its apex. buttress. Vertical element supporting or giving stability to a wall, tower, or other structural feature. glossary 257 capital. Projecting, carved feature on the top of a column or similar vertical element. cathedral. The mother church of a diocese in which the bishop’s chair, or cathedra, is located. chancel. The east end of a church, which holds the main altar. It usually has a flat east wall. See also apse. chapel. Larger Catholic churches have secondary altars, and if these are located in a separate space, they are called chapels. Also, a church for use by a distinct community, such as a school or college. clerestory. Upper stage of the walls of a church holding glass, usually stained glass. colonnade. Series of regularly spaced columns giving support to a structure over it. column. An upright member supporting the structure above it. It transmits, through compression, the weight above it to structural elements below, such as foundations. crocket. Carved projections in the form of leaves found on Gothic spires and pinnacles. crossing. Where the transepts cross a church’s main axis. cruciform. Building in the shape of a Latin cross. crypt. In cathedrals, chamber located beneath the sanctuary in which deceased bishops are entombed. curvilinear tracery. Later Gothic tracery of more complex, curving forms than geometric tracery. Decorated Gothic. Style of architecture characterized by its window tracery, simple at first (geometric) and more flowing (curvilinear) in later Gothic. diocese. The territory over which a bishop has ecclesiastical jurisdiction. ecclesiastical. Of, or related to, the Church. ecclesiology. In an architectural context, the study of medieval church buildings associated with nineteenth-century Ecclesiological Societies. These groups promoted the revived use of Gothic style. facade. The face of a building, usually the front, though sometimes the sides or rear. finial. Ornament on the top of a gable, spire, pinnacle, and the like. Flamboyant. A style of elaborate tracery found in late French Gothic architecture. Amiens Cathedral’s rose window is Flamboyant. Some of the tracery in Sacred Heart’s interior screens and other carving is Flamboyant. flèche. Tall, slender spire, usually of copper, rising from the ridge of a church roof. floriated. Treated with flower-like ornament. gable. Upper part of a wall, triangular in shape, and carrying a pitched roof. Also, a feature of similar shape. geometric tracery. Gothic tracery of simple patterns, using bars and devices based on the circle. Gothic construction. Architectural form and style that flourished in Europe from the twelfth through fifteenth centuries. Pointed arches, rib vaulting or exposed roof supports , and window tracery are its chief architectural features. Also, later buildings in this style. 258 Glossary hammerbeam. Cantilevered beam supporting a roof structure. iconography. Traditional symbolic forms or imagery associated with a subject. lancet. Slim window ending in a simple pointed arch. liturgical. Having to do...