Universe of Stone: Chartres Cathedral and the Invention of the Gothic

Me ha gustado mucho. Yo creo que a muchas personas dedicadas al arte como profesión les abrirá una puerta que conduce a un lugar que desconocían. Impresionante. Y más tratándose de la catedral de Chartres.

In the 1950s, when I was first studying Gothic architecture, the emphasis was on form; successive changes in shape and pattern. Banister Fletcher's tome, "A History of Architecutre on the comparative method" was our reference source and the excellent illustrations reinforced the formal message. When I first taught the subject, in the 1970s, I felt that there should be much more understanding of the context in which architecure comes into being. I put emphasis on economic, social and technical issues as well as the formal ones. Philip Ball's excellent book takes a similar approach though there is relatively little discussion of the economic context, upon which I would have placed greater emphasis. On the other hand, Ball devotes a significant section to the philosophical context in the Middle Ages.Ball is not an architectural historian, but he has read widely and distilled a wide range of knowledge about the great cathedrals of the 12th and 13th centuries, while always focussing on that much-cited masterpiece, Chartres.My previous acquaintance with the author was through his book "Critical Mass, How one thing leads to another". It is a heavywight - literally - book of close to 600 pages and, although quite readable, it demands careful reading. "Universe of Stone" is not like that. It demands much less of the reader without in any way being a shallow interpretation. The illustrations, many of them in colour, are excellent. Dr Ball clearly shares my admiration for the masons responsible for the great edifice and goes to considerable length to show exactly why that admiration is well founded.I thoroughly enjoyed the book and I recommend it highly.

Given the apparent paucity of reliable information about the construction of Chartres Cathedral itself, the author includes much detail about other Gothic cathedrals, as well as extensive background information about the philosophical and religious underpinnings of the Gothic style. The photos are all black-and-white and grainy, no doubt because of the quality of the paper on which the book is printed. It helps to understand the book if you have access to another source such as Pitkin's pictorial souvenir guidebook to Chartres Cathedral, which has excellent photos. Generally the writing flows smoothly but British spelling of common words is used throughout the book. Overall this book is a good read.

super interesting, lovely book, fast shipping, good quality

Philip Ball's bookis of immense value in understanding the complexities not only of Chartres Cathedral, itself an extremely complex monument, but also to understand Gothic architecture and sculpture in a more general sense. Excellently written, Ball refers to all of the major scholars who have dealt with Chartres and with Gothic architecture, and he offers his own interpretations of the questions that surround the cathedral. Highly readable and immensely valuable with very helpful diagrams and illustrations.