The Gargoyles of Notre-Dame: Medievalism and the Monsters of Modernity
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.13 (841 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0226092453 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 464 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2014-04-23 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
This last work of one of our time’s great medievalists is, like Victor Hugo’s Notre Dame de Paris, at once monumental and wide ranging, yet always focused on a demonic protagonist. Viollet-le-Duc and Jean Baptiste Lassus have long been cast as the handmaidens of nineteenth-century positivism, instilling a vision of rational structure and historical development on the cathedral only recently purged of its Revolutionary years as a Temple of Reason. Writing a history of the cathedral’s bevy of gargoyles, Michael Camille brilliantly confirms Viollet-le-Duc’s definition of ‘restoration’ as both a word and thing of modern coinage. Provocative, at times profoundly insightful, Michael Camille unveils the fantasies and anxieties of both Viollet-le-Duc and all the restorations since in the veils of meaning and emotions of France’s most visited cathedral.”. “The ‘restoration’ of Notr
Le Stryge said When a gargoyle becomes a chimera.. Let me start with a warning. Do NOT purchase this book if you are looking for a glossy coffee table book of pretty pictures. You will be very disappointed.If, however, you wish to read an intensely detailed and thorough examination of the many and varied interpretations placed on the 5When a gargoyle becomes a chimera. Le Stryge Let me start with a warning. Do NOT purchase this book if you are looking for a glossy coffee table book of pretty pictures. You will be very disappointed.If, however, you wish to read an intensely detailed and thorough examination of the many and varied interpretations placed on the 54 chimeras,(NOT the gargoyles, despite the title), placed on the gallery of Notre Dame de Paris by Viollet-le-Duc from 1854 onwards, then this is for you.From their very first appearance, the "chimeres" have fired the imaginations of tourists, artists, politicians, doctors, psychologist. chimeras,(NOT the gargoyles, despite the title), placed on the gallery of Notre Dame de Paris by Viollet-le-Duc from 185When a gargoyle becomes a chimera. Le Stryge Let me start with a warning. Do NOT purchase this book if you are looking for a glossy coffee table book of pretty pictures. You will be very disappointed.If, however, you wish to read an intensely detailed and thorough examination of the many and varied interpretations placed on the 54 chimeras,(NOT the gargoyles, despite the title), placed on the gallery of Notre Dame de Paris by Viollet-le-Duc from 1854 onwards, then this is for you.From their very first appearance, the "chimeres" have fired the imaginations of tourists, artists, politicians, doctors, psychologist. onwards, then this is for you.From their very first appearance, the "chimeres" have fired the imaginations of tourists, artists, politicians, doctors, psychologist. Absolutely Fantastic Greg J. Lovern I could never in a million years have hoped for a better book on the Notre Dame gargoyles.This author knows, and conveys in a very engaging manner, an unbelievable amount of interesting information about them. He talks about what they very probably meant to people at the time they were made, what they appeared to mean to people in the years since, and what they seem to mean to people now. It was fascinating how people's perception of them has changed profoundly over the years.It was interesting to learn how very suddenly they captivated people, even before the offici. Carl-Erhard Lindahl said I was happy to find the book. The book is a bit difficult to find and therefore I was happy to get it. The condition of the book was correctly described. It took a rather long time to reach me and the explanation why it was so was a bit strange. But all is well that ends well
Tracing their eventual evolution into icons of high kitsch, Camille ultimately locates the gargoyles’ place in the twentieth-century imagination, exploring interpretations by everyone from Winslow Homer to the Walt Disney Company.Lavishly illustrated with more than three hundred images of its monumental yet whimsical subjects, The Gargoyles of Notre-Dame is a must-read for historians of art and architecture and anyone whose imagination has been sparked by the lovable monsters gazing out over Paris from one of the world’s most renowned vantage points.. These gargoyles, Camille contends, were not mere avatars of the Middle Ages, but rather fresh creations—symbolizing an imagined past—whose modernity lay precisely in their nostalgia. He goes on to map the critical reception and many-layered afterlives of these chimeras, notably in the works of such artists and writers as Charles Méryon, Victor Hugo, and photographer Henri Le Secq. Most of the seven million people who visit the cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris each year probably do not realize that the legendary gargoyles adorning this medieval masterpiece were not constructed until the nineteenth century. The first comprehensive history of these world-famous monsters, The Gargoyles of Notre-Dame argues that they transfo