Product Description

From Chartres to the cathedral of Florence, this volume covers the major Romanesque and Gothic cathedrals in France, England, Germany, Italy and Spain. Over 300 photographs showing the cathedrals inside and out, including close-up architectural and sculptural details and an authoritative text, combine to produce a survey of these buildings.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #313749 in Books
• Published on: 2002-12-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 472 pages

From Publishers Weekly
There are European cathedrals in almost every architectural style, including Romanesque, Baroque and Renaissance. But it is the Gothic style, perfected during the Late Middle Ages, that has come to epitomize the essence of the continent's truly great cathedrals. In this book, Schutz, an architectural historian at the University of Munich, explores the towering Gothic cathedrals of France, England, Spain, Italy and Germany, all nations of the former Holy Roman Empire. Schutz explains the complex structure of Gothic design, in which the most imposing edifices are "mere frameworks" whose soaring lines appear to belie the laws of gravity. Schutz's text is strong on architectural detail but weak on the social upheavals and theological transformations that marked the centuries he describes. However, this is a very useful art book, complemented as it is by 310 photographs and illustrations, 270 of them in full color, many of them full-page. The photographs by Albert Hirmer, Florian Monheim and Joseph Martin mix attention to detail (stained-glass windows at Strasbourg, the cloisters at Gloucester) with a fine sense of the whole. Here we see the glories of Chartres, Notre Dame and Reims cathedrals in France; Canterbury and Salisbury in England; and the Italian gems at Milan and Venice. This sumptuous book will make a lovely gift for spiritual pilgrims, art aficionados and armchair travelers alike.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
The main attraction here is the inclusion of 270 crisp, oversized color plates, which capture Gothic structures from every angle, supplemented by historic, undated photos of cathedrals and their artworks and decorations. Schutz (emeritus, Univ. of Munich), a noted German authority on medieval and Baroque architecture, covers five to eight cathedrals each in France, England, Spain, Germany, and Italy. The text, though spare and basic, is illuminating. Churches in each country are introduced by a chapter-length essay and a map that notes locations. Sections on the cathedrals include an overview, floor plans, and magnificent plates. The illustrated glossary of cathedral terms and short bibliography are useful. The dilemma for selectors is determining whether their library needs another medieval cathedrals parade of greatest hits. Anne Prache's Cathedrals of Europe offers a broader and more in-depth historical survey of cathedral culture. For purely artistic and aesthetic appreciation, however, Schutz's entry merits consideration.
Russell T. Clement, Northwestern Univ. Lib., Evanston, IL
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author
Bernhard Schutz is a professor of architectural history at the University of Munich, specializing in the Middle Ages and the Baroque and Romantic periods. This will be his first book in English.

Customer Reviews

A gorgeous tribute to a towering art form
Probably few other works of man have caused more awed neck-stretching than the Gothic cathedral. In over 400 stunningly illustrated pages, Schutz presents the major cathedrals of France, England, Germany, Italy and Spain. The text is well written and scholarly, but with pictures like these, the text is almost irrelevant. The mind-blowing photographs of Chartres, Notre Dame, Salisbury and the rest, leave us gaping in awe at the magnificence of these buildings and shaking our heads in disbelief at the labor and craftsmanship that went into making them reality, and marveling how mere mortals could have produced such glorious works of art.

Text? What text? Who needs text?
No bout a-doubt it, the pictures are the star of this show. We get a three or four page long architectural history of each cathedral, a couple of exterior shots, a view down the main sanctuary, and several closeups of various details, statuary, and art. Most of these cathedrals are so wonderful that they could be made the subject of books of their own, of course. But this visual symphony brings us up close and personal with arguably the greatest treasures the European Middle Ages bequeathed to posterity.

The only mild disappointment for me is that not much mention is made of the gigantic lost abbey church of Cluny, which was in the late Romanesque style. One of the better uses of computer imaging these days is the virtual reconstruction of that edifice.

Wonderful books like this are why coffee-tables were invented!

Altars to the Holy Roman Empire...and Art
GREAT CATHEDRALS is an elegant and eloquent, impressive large book that addresses in pictures, drawings and well-crafted research the magnificent cathedrals of France, England, Spain, Italy and Germany that represent the finest in Gothic architecture dating from about 1100 AD. Bernhard Schutz knows his architecture and takes the reader on an informed tour of these incredible monuments, explaining with very helpful diagrams the architectural wonders and phenomena of each cathedral. Just when you think you remember the Notre Dame in Paris as being the most exquisite example of European cathedrals, turn the page and study the beauties of the cathedral at Chartres in a way that few other books have captured its majesty. The photographs of the buildings are beautifuly rendered with copious examples of the details such as the stained glass windows, the decor of the columns, and the variety of doors. For readers who are looking for a book about the psychosocial development of the Holy Roman Empire and all the permutations and controversies of the life and times of the architects that surround these monuments, then this is not the history book one would expect. Yet for concise, informed, and inspiring writing about these great cathedrals as art and architectural wonders, it would be difficult to find a more thorough presentation. This book helps us remember that the roots of fine art are in the cathedrals and examining those roots has never been more captivating!