The Cathedral Of Bourges And Its Place In Gothic Architecture

This substantive yet easy-to-use guide to selected French gothic churches and cathedrals provides profiles of fourteen important religious buildings. They are located in different parts of France, were constructed at different times and in different styles, and include both well-known and less well-known churches and cathedrals. They range from the tiny church of Saint Maclou in Rouenperhaps the best example of flamboyant designto the worlds most visited Gothic cathedral, Notre Dame in Paris. A second section of the book considers what a Gothic cathedral is as well as their medieval setting and the many architectural, artistic, and spiritual elements that comprise a Gothic cathedral. The guide is lavishly illustrated with photos and helpful images to help the readers derive the maximum benefit and pleasure from their Gothic church and cathedral visits.

Great Gothic Cathedrals of France guides readers on a tour of twelve French cathedrals that best exemplify one of the greatest glories of Western civilization. From the beautiful facade of Notre-Dame in Paris to the transcendent beauty of the stained glass at Chartres, this book clarifies the significant elements of their architecture by means of its text and images. The cathedrals of Amiens, Paris, Saint Denis, Chartres, Reims, Laon, Noyon, Soissons, Sens, Beauvais, Bourges and Troyes as well as Sainte-Chapelle are all presented to give the reader and visitor to France a clear understanding of these extraordinary buildings. This publication also provides the reader with a chapter on how to "read" a stained glass window.

The essays in this volume reflect on and build on the remarkable legacies of Robert Mark and Andrew Tallon, who pioneered the application of high-technology research methods to the study of Gothic architecture.

Gothic architecture is the most visible and striking product of medieval European civilization. Jean Bony, whose reputation as a medievalist is worldwide, presents its development as an adventure of the imagination allied with radical technical advances—the result of a continuining quest for new ways of handling space and light as well as experimenting with the mechanics of stone construction. He shows how the new architecture came unexpectedly to be invented in the Paris region around 1140 and follows its history—in the great cathedrals of northern France and dozens of other key buildings—to the end of the thirteenth century, when profound changes occurred in the whole fabric of medieval civilization. Rich illustrations, including comprehensive maps, enhance the text and themselves constitute an exceptionally valuable documenation. Despite its evident scholarly intention, this book is not meant for specialists alone, but is conceived as a progressive infiltration into the complexities of history at work, revealing its unpredictable vitality to the uninitiated curious mind.