Notre Dame Cathedral : nine centuries of history

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Bibliographic Information

Notre Dame Cathedral : nine centuries of history

Dany Sandron and Andrew Tallon ; translated by Lindsay Cook and Andrew Tallon

Pennsylvania State University Press, [2020], c2013

  • : pbk

Other Title

Notre-Dame de Paris

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Note

Includes bibliographical references (p. 178-181)

Description and Table of Contents

Description

Since its construction, Notre Dame Cathedral has played a central role in French cultural identity. In the wake of the tragic fire of 2019, questions of how to restore the fabric of this quintessential French monument are once more at the forefront. This all-too-prescient book, first published in French in 2013, takes a central place in the conversation. The Gothic cathedral par excellence, Notre Dame set the architectural bar in the competitive years of the third quarter of the twelfth century and dazzled the architects and aesthetes of the Enlightenment with its structural ingenuity. In the nineteenth century, the cathedral became the touchstone of a movement to restore medieval patrimony to its rightful place at the cultural heart of France: it was transformed into a colossal laboratory in which architects Jean-Baptiste Lassus and Eugene-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc anatomized structures, dismembered them, put them back, or built them anew-all the while documenting their work with scientific precision. Taking as their point of departure a three-dimensional laser scan of the cathedral created in 2010, architectural historians Dany Sandron and the late Andrew Tallon tell the story of the construction and reconstruction of Notre Dame in visual terms. With over a billion points of data, the scan supplies a highly accurate spatial map of the building, which is anatomized and rebuilt virtually. Fourteen double-page images represent the cathedral at specific points in time, while the accompanying text sets out the history of the building, addressing key topics such as the fundraising campaign, the construction of the vaults, and the liturgical function of the choir. Featuring 170 full-color illustrations and elegantly translated by Andrew Tallon and Lindsay Cook, Notre Dame Cathedral is an enlightening history of one of the world's most treasured architectural achievements.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1 1163: Planning the Cathedral The Bishop The Cathedral Chapter The Fabric Resources Episcopal Donations Capitular Donations Lay Donations 1170: Building the Cathedral The Materials The Master Mason The Design The Construction 1177: Constructing the Vaults The Vaults Technical Aspects of Vault Construction The Space of the Choir 1182: Liturgical Choir and Sanctuary The Liturgical Choir Staging the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy The Medieval Sanctuary 1208: Form and Meaning The Choir The Nave 1220: Portals and the Gallery of Kings 1225: Changing Tastes A Radical Transformation The Changes Instability of the West Front 1245: Towers and Bells, Marking Time at the Cathedral The Casting of a Bell 1265: Relics and Processions Relics and Reliquaries Stational Liturgy and Processions 1300: Pious Foundations and Tombs The Choir: Preserve of Prelates and Princes The Chapels Confraternities at Notre Dame 1350: A Point of Reference The Architects Directing the Works 1780: Baroque Transformations 1860: The Major Restoration of Lassus and Viollet-le-Duc Notre Dame in Peril The Invention of French Cultural Heritage The Competition The Project The Restoration The Rational Cathedral The Cathedral Today Conclusion Plan of Notre Dame Glossary Selected Bibliography Credits

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