Canterbury Cathedral (Canterbury, UK — 1400) — Questions and answers

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What did Henry Yevele say his newly completed nave of Canterbury Cathedral would guide?

Choices

  1. The river and the boats
  2. The eye and the spirit heavenward ✓
  3. The workers to their homes
  4. The birds to their nests

Answer: The eye and the spirit heavenward

From page 1

What did Henry Yevele think of the old plans for the nave?

Choices

  1. They were perfect and needed no changes.
  2. They suggested a heavy, oppressive form that needed to be lighter. ✓
  3. They were too light and needed more weight.
  4. They were confusing and hard to understand.

Answer: They suggested a heavy, oppressive form that needed to be lighter.

From page 2

According to Yevele, what was the true challenge for the cathedral's design, besides height?

Choices

  1. Making it look exactly like old Norman buildings.
  2. Creating the illusion of weightlessness, the spirit defying gravity. ✓
  3. Filling it with as many heavy stones as possible.
  4. Making it easy for everyone to climb to the very top.

Answer: Creating the illusion of weightlessness, the spirit defying gravity.

From page 3

What did Henry Yevele tell his foreman, Thomas, about the cathedral's foundations?

Choices

  1. To make them shallow and small.
  2. To make them with soft, light mud.
  3. To make them deep, wider than seemed necessary, and packed with the finest stone. ✓
  4. To not worry too much about them, as they wouldn't be seen.

Answer: To make them deep, wider than seemed necessary, and packed with the finest stone.

From page 4

What did Henry Yevele explain the keystone was, to a young apprentice?

Choices

  1. Just an ordinary stone that looked pretty.
  2. The smallest stone in the whole cathedral.
  3. The heart of the arch, the fulcrum where all forces meet. ✓
  4. A stone used for drawing pictures.

Answer: The heart of the arch, the fulcrum where all forces meet.

From page 6