Notre Dame de Laon is one of our favorite Gothic cathedrals, but it has a reputation for being, well, unreligious. Viollet-le-Duc likened it to a civic hall where people “could unite and enjoy spectacles more or less profane.” The great writer Huysmans felt that nobody could pray there, and that “its soul has fled forever”. Dorothy Noyes Arms, who loved the cathedral, felt that even when full for a celebratory mass, the cathedral would never generate the spiritual ferment of Chartres nor be filled with flickering devotional candles.
On the other hand, Notre Dame de Laon is a superb early Gothic construction started around 1155 during the period of time that the cathedrals of Sens, Noyon and Senlis were being built. The builders were still feeling their way around this new form of architecture. The eleven bays of the nave progress in a stately manner down the impressively long nave. There are another ten bays in the choir. This gives the impression of great length, especially when compared to the relatively low vault height.
As a matter of comparison, Notre Dame de Paris (416′ long, 110′ high) has a length to height ratio of 3.8:1. Notre Dame d’Amiens (438′ long, 141′ high) has a ratio of 3.1:1. Notre Dame de Laon (362′ long, 79′ high), on the other hand, has a ratio of 4.6:1.
Notre Dame has many indications of being early Gothic – most noticeably there are still tribunes over the rather short side aisles. Because there are four levels to the elevation – the arcade, the tribune, the triforium, and the clerestory, the only direct lighting in the nave comes from the clerestory windows.
Another indication that this is a transitional church is that there are both round and pointed arches in the structure. The nave arcades are ogive and the tribune, triforium and clerestory arches are round. Notice how the single arcade bay yields a double bay in the tribune and a triple bay in the clerestory. This gives a wonderful rhythm to the structure.
It is interesting to note also that there is no balustrade in the tribune arcades. The passages open unobstructed straight out to the nave. My suspicion is that this was to allow light from the tribune windows to penetrate more fully to the nave. This gives an open visual impression even if it must be a bit harrowing to stand on the open edge.
The nave vault is also transitional – a sexpartite vault spans two bays instead of a quadripartite vault that spans a single bay. It is interesting in this shot to see the effect of all the round arches. They seem to somehow pull the vault lower, to keep it more earthward.
The choir is quite interesting for a number of reasons – first, the east wall is flat and adorned with a magnificent rose window. There is no chevet, there are no radiating chapels, and there is no ambulatory. Instead, there is a long ten-bay arcade with side aisles, just like the nave. This is truly a cruciform church with short transept arms to make the cross.
The straight side aisles in the choir show clearly the solid, powerful columns and the flat east wall in the distance. We can see here more evidence of the early nature of the Gothic – there are no windows in the side aisles.
In the flat east wall of the choir, there is a stained glass ensemble consisting of the rose and three lancets. The early 13th century lancets lancets are from the school of Chartres and feature the Annunciation, Visitation, and the Nativity. The visual effect from the nave is quite interesting because the windows occupy most of the space in that wall. It quite literally appears as a light at the end of a tunnel.
PJ and I are quite fond of these early Gothic cathedrals where the builders found their way to the new architecture that would soon culminate in the masterpieces of Amiens, Chartres, Bourges and Reims. In those structures, the nave arcades would rise higher and be fitted with window ensembles, the tribune level would disappear and the clerestory rounds would change into a rose with two lancets. And the crowning achievement, the structures would be covered with the quadripartite vaults. This would allow for greater wall space dedicated to windows, more elongated piers and pillars and give the sensation of stone climbing to the heavens.
Laon, Senlis, Auxerre, and Sens may not have the same soaring effect as their more famous successors, but they paved the way. It was here that the earthbound Romanesque gave way to the heaven-soaring Gothic.
Location: 49.564374° 3.625100°