Product Description

The Gothic cathedrals of the Middle Ages are among the world's supreme architectural achievements. Hundreds of these great churches were built throughout Europe in a rich variety of styles between c. 1130 and c. 1530, all of them representing an investment of money and effort so immense that it is difficult to find a modern parallel.

Christopher Wilson focuses here on the interaction between design and the requirements of patrons, following the creative processes of architects by reconstructing the problems and opportunities that they faced. He discusses chronology, structural techniques, and stylistic developments and then goes further, seeing the story as a sequence of choices from which new challenges and solutions arose. 221 illustrations.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #325214 in Books
• Published on: 2005-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

Review
A skillful and fresh assessment that brings to the general reader the recent work of art researchers and critics. -- Booklist

Superb photographs and crisp line drawings with extensive captions that are often as illuminating as the text itself. -- Architectural Review

About the Author
Christopher Wilson is a lecturer in the History of Art at University College, London.

Customer Reviews

The Gothic Cathedral is comprehesive AND readable!
How I ended up being the first to review this book is beyond me. I would've guessed that many a learned architectural scholar would've long since sung the praises of this wonderful book. I, however, am just a layman with a lifelong passion for Gothic cathedral architecture, which started in the Washington National Cathedral and became educated, at least partiallly, in this book.

I consider Wilson's "The Gothic Cathedral", a 'must own' for anyone who has ever felt a yearning to know more about the soaring arches, brilliant glasswork, and impossibly high, vaulted ceilings of these magnificent medieval structures. This book, details the development of this unique form of architectural artistry; beginning with it's modest antecedents in Romanesque architecture and the groin-vaulted churches of Normandy and England and continuing through even the most elaborate and extravagant versions of late-Gothic throughout Europe. Mr. Wilson moves the reader, comfortably and comprehensibly through the chronological development of Gothic architecture, while neatly detailing the differences in coincidental development in several diverse geographic regions. Even I, with no formal architectural education, can now explain most of the finer points of Norman Romanesque, French High Gothic, and the Rayonnant styles of architecture, as well as explaining the odd metamorphisis of the English Decorated style into the very uniquely English, Perpendicular style.

The text is brilliantly cross-referenced with the illustrations, diagrams and photographs, which are both descriptive and beautiful, despite being all black and white. Finally, the glossary, index, and bibliography are complete and very helpful. If you think you MIGHT like this book... you will. Buy it.

Superb Review of Great Architectural Monuments
Christoper Wilson's "The Gothic Cathedral: The Architecture of the Great Church, 1130-1530" is a superb survey of cathedrals and large European churches constructed across four centuries, not only filled with an incisive text but also wonderfully illustrated with hundreds of diagrams and exquisite photographs. It is true that the photos are only black-and-white so the reader cannot wholly grasp the glory of stained glass windows, but the photographs nonetheless render the Gothic architectural features and details with great clarity. This combination of excellent text and superb illustrations makes Wilson's book ideal for either close, intensive study or simple joyful browsing. I cannot imagine that anyone who appreciates glorious Gothic architecture would not find Wilson's "The Gothic Cathedral" not only a valuable but also a necessary addition to his or her library.

Not at all what I expected, but then my expectations were far too low:)
The Gothic Enterprise: A Guide to Understanding the Medieval Cathedral

A work you will not soon forget. If you're looking for a detailed, multichapter description of engineering and construction management in early midieval times, this is perhaps not the exact text for your purpose. But if you considering the salient questions of how, where, when, who and specifically WHY Europeans built immense Gothic Cathedrals, I doubt you'd find a better layman's offering. Mixing religion and mysticism, cultural nuance and day to day living, geography and climate, ruling and ruled, and more... with a top flight researchers ability to discover, present and hone the finest and most remote connections, " The Gothic Enterprise" is no small monument to an author's love of form and place. To fully digest this takes several reads, and without fail something new is garnered and understood with each successive pass through this marvelous book. Enjoy it, I surely did!