Customer Reviews

Heavenly Vaults: From Romanesque to Gothic in European Architecture

5 star:		(6)
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This new entry (2009) into the library of Gothic building photography is a welcome addition due to its high quality reproductions, its coverage of a wide variety of structures from across Europe, and the addition of a short, but informative, written narrative on the issues surrounding medieval vaulting for European edifices. As anyone who is interested in Gothic architecture is painfully aware, the ability to purchase high quality (or actually, ANY quality) printed photo books covering the field is excruciatingly difficult. It's not because there are no books out there: it's that many of them are generally available only in Europe, are published by local concerns such as cathedrals, churches, or local towns and therefore not easily found in online sellers, and are not always the best reproduction quality. In addition, those that ARE printed in high quality, large page format tend to sell out quickly, pushing the price of the remaining volumes into the stratosphere.

You should keep this in mind with this text, because even though the book is being printed by Princeton, it is entirely possible this volume will follow the same trajectory and end up being prohibitively expensive. That's a shame, because this is a lovely book that is best distributed to a wide audience. If you are interested in Gothic architecture, this book will provide you with great images of the transept crossing vaulting and choir vaulting in full color and with good resolution. A nice touch of the book is that the photos are arranged with essentially the same photographic "framing" in each image, making comparisons between the structures very easy as you move from page to page (see the sample photos above to see what I mean). The images are new, high resolution, and reproduced with good color without being over saturated.

As someone who has visited and photographed many of these structures throughout France, I have been highly amazed at the beauty and emotional impact of the vaulting of Gothic buildings. A good friend of mine, after I had shown her one of my photo albums, laughed and commented that my shots all focused on "roofs and floors." She's probably correct, because in a Gothic structure, that's where a lot of the "action" is. And this volume lets us see some of that action (the vaults) by simply browsing through its pages. Don't miss out on this one.

While you are at it, try adding a few others like it (see below) before they, too, end up out of print. Although I was slightly disappointed that this particular volume is printed on matte paper instead of full gloss, the resolution, color depth, and overall quality of the paper itself make this a minor issue. It probably holds down the cost another ten or twenty dollars, as well. Five stars out of five.

Also Review These Photographic Volumes:
- Visions of Heaven: The Dome in European Architecture
- Great Cathedrals
- Great Monasteries of Europe
- Gothic: Architecture - Sculpture - Painting

Amazing, moving, profound, wonderful....I can easily continue until I run out of adjectives. I bought this book with the plan to enjoy it for a while then pass it on to a friend as a gift; I am now quite ambivalent about this plan. The photographs (HOW did he take them?) cover the vaults of Gothic churches in at least England, France, Germany, Spain, Belgium, and Italy...? I've seen first hand maybe a handful of those he's pictured, although I question now whether I've truly 'seen' them. In addition to now making a life list of churches I want to see if I have the chance to return to Europe, I found several ways to enjoy this collection. First, flip through from front to back slowly, get a feel for the range of colors and designs. Then take them one by one, staying with those which really move you. Hold the book within 12 inches of your eyes and stare at the center so that your vision takes in the whole. Look at each picture noting its three dimensional quality. Look at each picture as if it is two dimensional. Pick out component details of the vault. Repeat.

A very beautiful book, with detailed pictures of many kinds of vaults. Also it's very informative about these vaults and their history

This is a beautiful book, beautifully done! I have been in many of these buildings--and looked up--but not the way that David Stephenson does! It is incredible to imagine what the builders had to do to create these structures. If you have any interest at all in buildings of this type, this IS the book for you!

David Stephenson has produced a masterpiece with this book. The photography in this book is an awesome evocation of the incredible lightness of being (to coin a phrase) conveyed by these stone monuments to the glory of God. Having visited many of the cathedrals pictured in this book, I can testify to the technical challenges Stephenson had to overcome to capture the magnificent architecture of these great cathedrals, minsters, and bascilicas. One of the highlights of the book are the images of the vaults in Sainte-Chappelle which capture the sublime grace of this great church. Taken together,the images in this book are a feast for the eyes. Stephenson has contributed an engaging essay at the end of the book entitled Gothicc Vaults, the Geometry of Transcendence, which is very worthwhile reading. Henry Adam's Mont Saint Michel and Chartres as well as Emile Male's books on Notre Dame de Paris and Notre Dame de Chartres are good follow-up reading. Enjoy.

If anyone is willing to sell this for $48, the amazon price when it was in stock, I'll buy it. This looks like a great book.