Great Gothic Cathedrals Of France

Paperback size for travel, this introduction to Gothic architecture and personal tour of French cathedrals is a celebration and an education in one, giving both the reader and the visitor a vivid and practical approach to appreciating these great buildings. Parry clarifies every significant element of their architecture in detailed text and beautiful, full-colour and b/w photos. The first handbook to bring together so many of these cathedrals with so many pictures, this necessity for the summer vacationer begs to be kept long afterward as a luscious souvenir.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Photos.by M. Hurlimann;introductory text by J. Bony.