Two centuries of Brabantine Gothic design Surface conditions and available materials varied. Larger churches could take centuries of building during which expertise and fashions caused successive architects to evolve further from the original plans. Or, Romanesque churches became rebuilt in phases of dismantling and replacing, as (apart from its
crypt)
St. Bavo's Cathedral in
Ghent: the early 14th-century
chancel is influenced by northern French and Scheldt Gothic, a century later a
radiating chapel appeared, and between 1462 and 1538 the mature Brabantine Gothic west tower was erected; the
nave was then still to be finished. Though few buildings are of an entirely consistent style, the ingenuity and craftsmanship of architects could realize a harmonious blend. The ultimate concepts were drawn centuries after the earliest designs. It follows that Brabantine Gothic style is neither homogeneous, nor strictly defined.
Features The Brabantine Gothic style originated with the advent of the Duchy of Brabant and spread across the
Burgundian Netherlands. Besides minor influences by the
High Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Mary in
Cologne, the architecture builds on the classic
French Gothic style as practiced in the construction of cathedrals such as those in
Amiens and
Reims. in
Dordrecht The structure of the church buildings in Brabant was largely the same: a large-scale
cruciform floor plan with three-tier elevation along the nave and side
aisles (
pier arches,
triforium,
clerestory) and a
choir backed by a half-round
ambulatory. The slender tallness of the French naves however, was never surpassed, and the size tended to be slightly more modest. in
Haarlem It is characterized by using light-coloured
sandstone or limestone, which allowed rich detailing but is erosion-prone. The churches typically have round columns with
cabbage foliage sculpted capitals. From there half-pillar
buttresses continue often without interruption into the
vault ribs. The triforium and the windows of the clerestory generally continue into one another, with the windows taking the entire space of the
pointed arch. An ambulatory with radiating chapels (
chevet) is part of the design (though at the 15th-century choir in
Breda added later on). Whereas the cathedrals in
Brussels and
Antwerp are notable exceptions, the main
porch is straight under the single west tower, in French called
clocher-porche. of tracery (underneath windows), in the
Cathedral of Our Lady in
Antwerp An alternative type originated with the cathedral of Antwerp: instead of round columns with a capital
impost, bundled
pillars profiled in the columns continue without interruption through the ribs of vaults and arches – a style followed for churches in
's-Hertogenbosch and
Leuven. In addition, the pier arches between nave and aisles are exceptionally wide, and the triforium is omitted. Instead, a
transom of
tracery is placed above the pier arches. This type was followed by other major churches in Antwerp, St. Martin Church in
Aalst, and
St. Michael's Church in Ghent.
Demer Gothic in the
Hageland and
Campine Gothic are regional variants of Brabantine Gothic in the south-eastern part of the former duchy. Those styles can be distinguished merely by the use of local rust-brown bricks. Brabantine Gothic
city halls are built in the shape of gigantic
box reliquaries with corner
turrets and usually a
belfry. The exterior is often profusely decorated.
Adaptations in Holland and of Zeeland Many churches in the former Counties of
Holland and
Zeeland are built in a style sometimes inaccurately separated as Hollandic and as Zeelandic Gothic. These are in fact Brabantine Gothic style buildings with concessions necessitated by local conditions. Thus (except for
Dordrecht), because of the soggy ground, weight was saved by wooden
barrel vaults instead of stone vaults and the flying buttresses required for those. In most cases, the walls were made of bricks but cut natural stone was not unusual. Everaert Spoorwater played an important role in spreading Brabantine Gothic into Holland and Zeeland. He perfected a method by which the drawings for large constructions allowed ordering virtually all natural stone elements from quarries on later
Belgian territory, then at the destination needing merely their cementing in place. This eliminated storage near the construction site, and the work could be done without the permanent presence of the architect. ==Renowned examples of Brabantine Gothic architecture==