clerestory

(noun)

The upper part of a wall containing windows to let in natural light to a building, especially in the nave, transept and choir of a church or cathedral.

Related Terms

  • lunette
  • prothesis
  • diaconicon
  • mullion
  • basilica
  • cloister
  • triforium
  • presbytery
  • theophany
  • fascia
  • perspective

Examples of clerestory in the following topics:

  • Norman Stained Glass

    • The use of a three-part elevation with external buttressing allowed for far larger windows than earlier designs, particularly at the clerestory level.
    • Because of their greater distance from the viewer, the windows in the clerestory generally adopt simpler, bolder designs.
    • Whereas the lower windows in the nave arcades and the ambulatory consist of one simple lancet per bay, the clerestory windows are each made up of a pair of lancets with a plate-traceried rose window above.
    • The nave and transept clerestory windows mainly depict saints and Old Testament prophets.
    • View of the north elevation of the choir from the south aisle, showing the triforium and clerestory windows.
  • Gothic Architecture: The Abbey Church of Saint Denis

    • To achieve his aims, Suger's masons drew on the new elements that had evolved or been introduced to Romanesque architecture: the pointed arch, the ribbed vault, the ambulatory with radiating chapels, the clustered columns supporting ribs springing in different directions, and the flying buttresses, which enabled the insertion of large clerestory windows.
    • Solid masonry was replaced with vast window openings filled with brilliant stained glass and interrupted only by the most slender of bar tracery—not only in the clerestory but also, perhaps for the first time, in the normally dark triforium level.
  • Ottonian Architecture in the Early European Middle Ages

    • However, ample light enters through a row of clerestory windows placed above the arcades dividing the name from the aisles.
    • Cyriakus are the clerestory windows in place of galleries and one pier placed after each pair of columns.
  • Architecture of the Early Christian Church

    • In basilicas of the former Western Roman Empire, the central nave is taller than the aisles, forming a row of windows called a clerestory.
  • Romanesque Architecture: The Church of Saint-Lazare

    • The nave elevation is composed of three levels: grand arcade, triforium, and clerestory, each marked by a cornice.
  • Characteristics of Romanesque Architecture

    • The arcade of a cloister is typically of a single stage; the arcade that divides the nave and aisles in a church, however, is typically of two stages, with a third stage of window openings known as the clerestory rising above them.
  • Architecture and Mosaics in the Middle Byzantine Empire

    • Mark's Basilica from the clerestory-level walkway shows its richly decorated mosaics and marble polychrome panels.
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