Gothic - period in the development of medieval art in Western, Central and Eastern Europe, partly from the XII to XV-XVI century. Gothic replaced the Romanesque style, gradually replacing it. The term "Gothic" is most often used to a certain style of architecture, which can be summarized as "eerily majestic." But gothic covers almost all the works of art of this period: sculptures, paintings, book miniatures, stained glass, murals and many others.

Gothic was born in the middle of the XII century in northern France, in the XIII century, it spread to the territory of modern Germany, Austria, Spain, England, the Czech Republic. In Italy Gothic penetrated later, with great difficulty and the strong transformation that led to the emergence of "Italian Gothic". At the end of the XIV century Europe embraced the so-called International Gothic. In Eastern Europe the Gothic penetrated later and stayed there a little longer - until the XVI century.