Customer Reviews

The Armor of Light: Stained Glass in Western France, 1250-1325 (California Studies in the History of Art)

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This book is an important work on French stained glass windows, and focuses on the area of far western France from between Le Mans and southern Normandy. Focusing on some of the major examples in the region (Le Mans cathedral, Sées cathedral, the Trinité abbey at Vendôme, Evron, Dol, and others) the work examines the work of master stained glass ("vitraux") masters working in the 10th - 15th centuries, and attempts to recreate how these artists moved from area to area, the method of reproduction, artistic style by century, and so on to present a scholarly and detailed work for those interested in this subject. This is not a coffee table book full of large, full-color images (there are few color images at all in the book), but is rather intended to present information in a scholarly manner for research and reading. If you have the chance to visit places like Le Mans cathedral, you can certainly go back in your mind's eye to the windows the book examines, but the book is not aimed at presenting large scale reproductions. There are, however, copious black and white photos and illustrative drawings used to supplement the text. The notes and supporting bibliographic material is rich and lengthy.

Nevertheless, the book is extremely high quality, printed on heavy weight glossy paper, and is oversized and heavy. Printed by the University of California Press, the book is part of the larger California Studies in the History of Art. Five stars for anyone studying gothic art, stained glass, or medieval architecture.

See Also:
Vitraux : Légendes de lumière