# Interior view [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [ARCHITECT, French]() - Date: 1201-1250 - Technique: Photo ## Commentary The archiepiscopal cathedral of Rouen had been continually extended and rebuilt in the 12th century. When a fire ravaged the town and the cathedral in 1200 and made a new building necessary, a modern-looking choir was consecrated before the nave was finished in 1237. The nave gives the illusion of having four stories, but in the side aisles it is clear that there is no vault between the arcades and the gallery. Where the vault springing would have come in a standard design, there is only an unusual formation of detached shafts. The rich profiling of the central nave piers and the arcade arches can be seen as typical of the region. By contrast, the architecture of the choir, with its repertoire of motifs borrowed from French Gothic of other regions, particularly from Île-de-France, is much more severe. ## Related artworks - [Aerial view]() - [Aerial view]() - [Aerial view]() - [Aerial view]() - [Aerial view]() - [Aerial view]() - [Aerial view]() - [Aerial view]() - [Aerial view]() - [Bird's eye view]() - [Burial lantern]() - [Castle]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()