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3 books match the query 'Cathedrals'
Believing and Seeing
The Art of Gothic CathedralsRoland Recht
University of Chicago Press, 2008
Developments in medieval science that elevated sight above the other senses found religious expression in the Christian emphasis on miracles, relics, and elaborate structures. In his incisive survey of Gothic art and architecture, Roland Recht argues that this preoccupation with vision as a key to religious knowledge profoundly affected a broad range of late medieval works.
In addition to the great cathedrals of France, Recht explores key religious buildings throughout Europe to reveal how their grand designs supported this profusion of images that made visible the signs of scripture. Metalworkers, for example, fashioned intricate monstrances and reliquaries for the presentation of sacred articles, and technical advances in stained glass production allowed for more expressive renderings of holy objects. Sculptors, meanwhile, created increasingly naturalistic works and painters used multihued palettes to enhance their subjects’ lifelike qualities. Reimagining these works as a link between devotional practices in the late Middle Ages and contemporaneous theories that deemed vision the basis of empirical truth, Recht provides students and scholars with a new and powerful lens through which to view Gothic art and architecture.
In addition to the great cathedrals of France, Recht explores key religious buildings throughout Europe to reveal how their grand designs supported this profusion of images that made visible the signs of scripture. Metalworkers, for example, fashioned intricate monstrances and reliquaries for the presentation of sacred articles, and technical advances in stained glass production allowed for more expressive renderings of holy objects. Sculptors, meanwhile, created increasingly naturalistic works and painters used multihued palettes to enhance their subjects’ lifelike qualities. Reimagining these works as a link between devotional practices in the late Middle Ages and contemporaneous theories that deemed vision the basis of empirical truth, Recht provides students and scholars with a new and powerful lens through which to view Gothic art and architecture.
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The Age of the Cathedrals
Art and Society, 980-1420Georges Duby
University of Chicago Press, 1981
Recognizing that a work of art is the product of a particular time and place as much as it is the creation of an individual, Duby provides a sweeping survey of the changing mentalities of the Middle Ages as reflected in the art and architecture of the period.
"If Age of the Cathedrals has a fault, it is that Professor Duby knows too much, has too many new ideas and takes such a delight in setting them out. . . insights whiz to and fro like meteorites."—John Russell, New York Times Book Review
"If Age of the Cathedrals has a fault, it is that Professor Duby knows too much, has too many new ideas and takes such a delight in setting them out. . . insights whiz to and fro like meteorites."—John Russell, New York Times Book Review
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The Construction of Gothic Cathedrals
A Study of Medieval Vault ErectionJohn Fitchen
University of Chicago Press, 1981
A classic account of the design and building of the great cathedrals of the Gothic era
In The Construction of Gothic Cathedrals, John Fitchen systematically walks readers through the process of erecting the great edifices of the Gothic era. He explains the building equipment and falsework needed, the actual operations undertaken, and the sequence of these operations as specifically as they can be deduced today. In the absence of contemporary accounts of the techniques used by medieval builders, Fitchen's study brilliantly pieces together clues from manuscript illuminations, pictorial representations, and the fabrics of the building themselves. The result is the clearest picture available of the innovations and techniques that enabled these buildings, which still generate awe today, to rise majestically above the low buildings of their surrounding towns. It's a book that will enthrall readers of history, and one that, as Progressive Architecture noted, "no student of architecture should miss."
In The Construction of Gothic Cathedrals, John Fitchen systematically walks readers through the process of erecting the great edifices of the Gothic era. He explains the building equipment and falsework needed, the actual operations undertaken, and the sequence of these operations as specifically as they can be deduced today. In the absence of contemporary accounts of the techniques used by medieval builders, Fitchen's study brilliantly pieces together clues from manuscript illuminations, pictorial representations, and the fabrics of the building themselves. The result is the clearest picture available of the innovations and techniques that enabled these buildings, which still generate awe today, to rise majestically above the low buildings of their surrounding towns. It's a book that will enthrall readers of history, and one that, as Progressive Architecture noted, "no student of architecture should miss."
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