Niche
niche
A recess for the reception of a statue, to give it emphasis, frame it effectively and afford protection; one of the cbief characteristics of Gothic architecture. Sculpture was introduced in the Romanesque period, but the frame was little more than the flanking shaft supporting an arch. The Gothic builders realized that sculpture to be architectural must be incorporated with the building. This was done by the canopied niche which also protected the statue and produced a rich composition of line, light, and shade. The wall was recessed and a pedestal added. In the 14th and 15th centuries the canopy was elaborately decorated.
Fuente: New Catholic Dictionary
Niche
A recess for the reception of a statue, so designed as to give it emphasis, frame it effectively, and afford some measure of protection. It hardly existed prior to the twelfth century, and is one of the chief decorative characteristics of Gothic architecture. The constant and often lavish use of sculptured images of the saints was an essential part of the great style that was so perfectly to express the Catholic Faith, and that had its beginnings in Normandy as a result of the great Cluniac reformation; and from the moment the roughly chiselled bas-relief swelled into the round and detached figure, the unerring artistic instinct of the medieval builders taught them — as it had taught the Greeks — that figure sculpture becomes architectural only when it is incorporated with the building of which it is a part, by means of surrounding architectural forms that harmonize it with the fabric itself. In Romanesque work this frame is little more than flanking shafts supporting an arch, the statue being treated as an accessory, and given place wherever a space of flat wall appeared between the columns and arches of the structural decoration. The convenience, propriety and beauty of the arrangement were immediately apparent, however, and thenceforward the development of the niche as an independent architectural form was constant and rapid. Not only did the canopied niche assimilate the statue in the architectural entity and afford it that protection from the weather so necessary in the north; it also, in conjunction with the statue itself, produced one of the richest compositions of line, light, and shade known to art. The medieval architects realized this and seized upon it with avidity, using it almost as their chief means for obtaining those spots and spaces of rich decoration that gave the final touch of perfection to their marvellous fabrics. In the thirteenth century the wall became recessed to receive the statue, the flanking shafts became independent supports for an arched and gabled canopy, while a pedestal was introduced, still further to tie the sculpture into the architecture. Later the section of the embrasure became hexagonal or octagonal, the arched canopy was cusped, the gable enriched with crockets and pinnacles, and finally in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries the entire feature became almost an independent composition, the canopy being developed into a thing of marvellous complexity and richness, while it was lavished on almost every part of the building, from the doors to the spires, and within as well as without. Protestant and revolutionary iconoclasm have left outside of France few examples of niches properly filled by their original statues, but in such masterpieces of art as the cathedrals of Paris, Chartres, Amiens, and Reims, one may see in their highest perfection these unique manifestations of the subtlety and refinement of the perfect art of Catholic civilization.
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RALPH ADAMS CRAM Transcribed by Michael C. Tinkler
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume XICopyright © 1911 by Robert Appleton CompanyOnline Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. KnightNihil Obstat, February 1, 1911. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., CensorImprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York
Fuente: Catholic Encyclopedia
Niche
is an architectural term derived from the French, and designates a cavity, hollow, or recess in a wall or buttress for an image, vase, or other erect ornament. Among the ancients niches were sometimes square, but oftener semicircular at the back, and terminated in a half-dome at the top; occasionally small pediments were formed over them, which were supported on consoles, or small columns or pilasters placed at the sides of the niches, but they were frequently left plain, or ornamented only with a few moldings. In the Middle Age architecture niches (often called tabernacles) were extensively used, especially in ecclesiastical buildings, for statues.
The figures in the Early English style were sometimes set on small pedestals, and canopies were not unfrequently used over the heads; they were often placed in suites or arranged in pairs, under a larger arch; when in suites, they were very commonly separated by single shafts: in other cases the sides were usually molded in a similar way to windows; the arches of the heads were either cinque-foiled, trefoiled, or plain, and when canopies were used they were generally made to project: good examples of the 13th century are to be seen on the west front of the cathedral at Wells.
In the Decorated style they very frequently had ogee canopies over them, which were sometimes placed flat against the wall and sometimes bowed out in the form of an ogee; triangular canopies were also common: several kinds of projecting canopies were likewise used, especially when the niches were placed separately. In the tops of buttresses niches were sometimes made to occupy the whole breadth of the buttress, so as to be entirely open on three sides, with small piers at the front angles; pedestals were very common, particularly in niches with projecting canopies, and in such cases were either carried on corbels or rose from other projecting supports below; sometimes corbels were used instead of pedestals.
In the Perpendicular style the paneling, which was so profusely introduced, was sufficiently recessed to receive figures, and these varied considerably in form; but of the more legitimate niches the general character did not differ very materially from those of the preceding style. In plan the canopies were usually half an octagon or hexagon, with small pendants and pinnacles at the angles; and crockets, finials, and other enrichments were often introduced in great profusion; buttresses, surmounted with pinnacles, were also very frequently placed at the side of niches in this style.