The Construction of Gothic Cathedrals

The Construction of Gothic Cathedrals

Author: John Fitchen

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 1981

Total Pages: 371

ISBN-13: 0226252035

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"This study enables us to appreciate more fully the technical expertise and improvements which enabled the creative spirit of the day to find such splendid embodiment". -- James Lingwood, Oxford Art Journal Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.


A Medieval Cathedral

A Medieval Cathedral

Author: Fiona Macdonald

Publisher: Peter Bedrick Books

Published: 1994-03

Total Pages: 52

ISBN-13: 9780872262669

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Text and cutaway illustrations depict the construction of a medieval cathedral and the way of life inside it.


Gothic Cathedrals

Gothic Cathedrals

Author: Karen Ralls

Publisher: Nicolas-Hays, Inc.

Published: 2015-04-15

Total Pages: 424

ISBN-13: 0892546271

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Cross the threshold into the world of the High Middle Ages and explore the illuminating wisdom, beauty and art of the Gothic cathedrals, stunning wonders of the medieval era for all to see today. From bejewelled stained glass windows to a pilgrimage “on the road” to Compostela, the wonders of Gothic architecture continue to inspire many worldwide. From the 12th century, the Gothic architectural style continued to spread throughout Europe. Highly-regarded medievalist Dr. Karen Ralls explores the legacy of this exquisite architectural period, whose artistic beauty and expert craftsmanship have served for centuries to inspire feelings of spiritual reverence and aesthetic wonder. She details the relationship between architecture, geometry, and music; explores the concept of the labyrinth; pilgrimage; Black Madonnas; astronomical calculations in the design and location of cathedrals; stone and wood carvings; gargoyles; the teachings of Pythagoras and the later Neo-Platonists, and more. For the general reader and specialist alike, Dr. Ralls guides the reader through the history, places, art, and symbolism of these unique "books in stone", providing a lively portal and solid resource for all. Lavishly illustrated with color photographs, a recommended reading section, lists of the major European cathedral sites and a full Bibliography, Gothic Cathedrals is a fascinating showcase of the mystic and spiritual symbolism found in these great structures of Europe, information that will help modern readers visit these sites and share in the energy of the sacred they continue to radiate.


Great Gothic Cathedrals of France

Great Gothic Cathedrals of France

Author: Stan Parry

Publisher: Oro Editions

Published: 2017-07-15

Total Pages: 200

ISBN-13: 9781939621788

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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 Engineering of Medieval Cathedrals

The Engineering of Medieval Cathedrals

Author: Lynn Courtenay

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-12-05

Total Pages: 399

ISBN-13: 1351890697

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The great cathedrals and churches of the medieval West continue to awe. How were they built, and why do they remain standing? What did their builders know about what they were doing? These questions have given rise to considerable controversy, which is fully reflected in the papers selected here. The first section of the book is concerned with the medieval builders and their design methods; the second focuses on engineering issues in the context of the infamous collapse of the choir at Beauvais in 1284. The following papers extend the analysis into the 15th century, looking for example at Brunelleschi’s dome for Florence Cathedral, and deal with the often neglected structures of roofs, towers and spires.


The Gothic Enterprise

The Gothic Enterprise

Author: Robert A. Scott

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 2011-06-28

Total Pages: 318

ISBN-13: 0520949560

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The great Gothic cathedrals of Europe are among the most astonishing achievements of Western culture. Evoking feelings of awe and humility, they make us want to understand what inspired the people who had the audacity to build them. This engrossing book surveys an era that has fired the historical imagination for centuries. In it Robert A. Scott explores why medieval people built Gothic cathedrals, how they built them, what conception of the divine lay behind their creation, and how religious and secular leaders used cathedrals for social and political purposes. As a traveler’s companion or a rich source of knowledge for the armchair enthusiast, The Gothic Enterprise helps us understand how ordinary people managed such tremendous feats of physical and creative energy at a time when technology was rudimentary, famine and disease were rampant, the climate was often harsh, and communal life was unstable and incessantly violent. While most books about Gothic cathedrals focus on a particular building or on the cathedrals of a specific region, The Gothic Enterprise considers the idea of the cathedral as a humanly created space. Scott discusses why an impoverished people would commit so many social and personal resources to building something so physically stupendous and what this says about their ideas of the sacred, especially the vital role they ascribed to the divine as a protector against the dangers of everyday life. Scott’s narrative offers a wealth of fascinating details concerning daily life during medieval times. The author describes the difficulties master-builders faced in scheduling construction that wouldn’t be completed during their own lifetimes, how they managed without adequate numeric systems or paper on which to make detailed drawings, and how climate, natural disasters, wars, variations in the hours of daylight throughout the year, and the celebration of holy days affected the pace and timing of work. Scott also explains such things as the role of relics, the quarrying and transporting of stone, and the incessant conflict cathedral-building projects caused within their communities. Finally, by drawing comparisons between Gothic cathedrals and other monumental building projects, such as Stonehenge, Scott expands our understanding of the human impulses that shape our landscape.


How to Build a Cathedral

How to Build a Cathedral

Author: Malcolm Hislop

Publisher: Herbert Press

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781408171776

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Gothic cathedrals are monuments to God, witnesses to the historic power of the Church, and symbols of the faith of the thousands of believers who contributed to their creation. They are also astonishing feats of construction and engineering, from a period before steel-making, machine tools and computer simulation; breathtaking in their scale and grandeur even hundreds of years after the religious impulse that produced them has largely faded away.How to Build a Cathedral is a visual exploration of the building of these masterpieces, from the initial groundplan to the topping out of the spire. Illustrated throughout with beautiful engravings, it looks at each element of the structure in turn, explaining the process of construction and the methods that were used. At intervals though the book, special gatefold pages offer a detailed snapshot of the evolution of the building as it rises into the heavens. A 16-page colour section allows for appreciation of stained glass and decorative stonework. With text written by a leading architectural historian, How to Build a Cathedral is an illuminating portrait of the genius of the medieval architect.


The Medieval Cathedral of Trondheim

The Medieval Cathedral of Trondheim

Author: Margrete Syrstad Andås

Publisher: Brepols Publishers

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 400

ISBN-13:

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Medieval cathedrals and the various practices connected to them form an important and complex part of the European cultural heritage. The buildings themselves and their reception into the modern arts ensure their presence within today's cultural memories and sensibilities. In the mid-twelfth century, a new archbishop's seat was erected in the Norwegian city of Trondheim (or Nidaros) at the far north of Europe. This interdisciplinary volume, written by scholars of history, architecture, and liturgy, explores the medieval cathedral of Trondheim as a local construction in a European context. As a see of the Western Church, it was set in an international Latinate culture. At the same time, the construction of the building itself and the ritual practices in and around it were influenced by local political, religious, and cultural conditions. The relationship between the physical construction of a cathedral and its function in medieval liturgical and other ritual practices is a topic of wide relevance for architectural and liturgical scholarship. The so-called Ordo Nidrosiensis, the thirteenth-century ordinal of the Province of Nidaros, is an immense help in interpreting the architectural construction and sacred space of Nidaros Cathedral and the Ordo is dealt with in many of the articles. In accordance with general medieval practice, the Nidaros ordinal may be described as international in contents but edited with regard to local considerations.


Believing and Seeing

Believing and Seeing

Author: Roland Recht

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2008-10-15

Total Pages: 389

ISBN-13: 0226706060

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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.


Cathedral

Cathedral

Author: David Macaulay

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Published: 1973

Total Pages: 118

ISBN-13: 9780395316689

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This richly illustrated book shows the intricate step-by-step process of an imaginary cathedral's growth.