The Gothic Cathedral

Origins of Gothic Architecture and the Medieval Concept of Order - Expanded Edition

Otto Georg Von Simson, Otto Georg von Simson

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9780691018676, 9780691099590
• eBook ISBN: 9780691214030
• Topic: Architecture
• Subtopic: History of Architecture

The classic work on Gothic religious architecture, now with added illustrations and a new section by the author on rose windows

No other monument of a culture so radically different from our own is as much a part of contemporary life as the Gothic cathedral. In this illuminating book, esteemed art historian Otto Georg von Simson explores how Gothic architecture is an expression of supernatural reality, and shows how, to those who designed and worshipped in the great cathedrals of France in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, this symbolic function of sacred architecture overshadowed all others. The Gothic Cathedral takes readers from the birth of the Gothic style with the Basilica of St.-Denis to the consummation of the form in the majestic Cathedral of Chartres, revealing how these incomparable architectural masterpieces embodied the spiritual and intellectual order of the medieval world.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half-title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication Page
• Contents
• Preface
• Preface to the Second Edition
• Preface to the Third Edition
• List of Plates and Text Figures
• Introduction
• Part I. Gothic Design and the Medieval Concept of Order
• Part II. The Birth of the Gothic
• Part II. The Consummation
• Addenda to the Second Edition
• Abbreviations
• List of Works Cited
• Index