Gothic is not just one of those terms we use on certain people today. It is also a form of art, seen commonly in the ancient past.
The exotic gothic style of architecture dates back to around 1150 and ends early in the 15th-16th centuries. Since the gothic architecture gradually formed in the 12th century, it underwent transformations throughout the next 300, 400 years. The gothic style refers mainly to the designs of pointed arches and ribbed/semicircular arched vaults. When the gothic architecture first began with the French, three types of ribbed vaults were involved. One type, the transverse ribs, spanned the interior of the church and divided it into many compartments. Another type, the wall ribs, connected one pier to another and marked the sides of the compartments. A third type, the diagonal ribs, divided the compartments into another four triangular segments. They way of these vaults were however thought to be thick and heavy and the Goths wanted lighter vaults that could be built over areas of any shape. So later on, the Goths stilted the ribs, or raised its point of curve, higher than that of the transverse and diagonal ribs. With these changes, vaults were built over square compartments, rectangular ones, trapezoidal ones and so on. Compared to the French style that was first used, the Gothic built vaults were only four to six inches thick instead of two feet. Throughout its existing 3-4 centuries of time, even the number of triangles divided from the vaults altered. In its original meaning, “gothic” means barbaric. During its own time, the Goths were the most barbaric peoples, leading the style of pointed arches to be known as “Gothic”.
