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Book Description
The great Medieval cathedrals are among the most remarkable monuments of that era. The noted art historian Anne Prache takes us on an amazing journey through the Romanesque and Gothic cathedrals still at the heart of ancient European cities, exploring the awe-inspiring buildings and the great riches they contain.

Cathedrals of Europe stands out among other volumes on the subject in several key ways. Most of its stunning photographs are new, taken especially for this book; the pictures are combined with text that is both authoritative and extremely readable. Rather than concentrating only on such familiar monuments as Notre Dame and Chartres, the author covers many of the more obscure and less frequently visited cathedrals from Italy to Scandinavia, Poland to Portugal.

Prache surveys the history of church building from its humble beginnings in Late Antiquity through the construction of such masterworks of the Gothic style as Reims, Strasbourg, and Wells. Throughout, she reminds us that these magnificent expressions of faith also reflected their builders' hopes and fears, technical expertise, political views, and the ever-changing economic and social realities with which they had to contend.

The works of art that adorn the cathedrals--sculptures, paintings, mosaics, stained glass, furniture, and more--receive particular attention. Study of these aspects, Prache says, provides an "understanding of the aspirations, sufferings, fears, and faith of generations long removed in time."

• Medieval Architecture (Oxford History of Art)
  by Nicola Coldstream [ISBN: 0192842765]
  This book looks at their architecture from an entirely fresh perspective, shifting the emphasis away from such areas as France towards the creativity of other regions, including central Europe and Spain. Treating the subject thematically, Coldstream seeks out what all buildings, both religious and secular, have in common, and how they reflect the material and spiritual concerns of the people who built and used them....
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• Gothic Architecture
  by Paul Frankl [ISBN: 0300087993]
  This magisterial study of Gothic architecture traces the meaning and development of the Gothic style through medieval churches across Europe. Ranging geographically from Poland to Portugal and from Sicily to Scotland and chronologically from 1093 to 1530, the book analyzes changes from Romanesque to Gothic as well as the evolution within the Gothic style and places these changes in the context of the creative spirit of the Middle Ages.
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• Early Medieval Architecture (Oxford History of Art)
  by Roger Stalley [ISBN: 0192842234]
  Ranging from Gotland to Apulia, the richness and variety of European architecture is explored in terms of the social and religious aspirations of the time. Symbolic meanings associated with architecture are also thoroughly investigated.
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• The Construction of Gothic Cathedrals : A Study of Medieval Vault Erection
  by John Fitchen [ISBN: 0226252035]
  John Fitchen systematically treats the process of erecting the great edifices of the Gothic era. He explains the building equipment and falsework needed, the actual operations undertaken, and the sequence of these operations as specifically as they can be deduced today...
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