Main entry:

Temko, Allan.

Title & Author:

Notre-Dame of Paris.

Publication:

New York, Viking Press, 1955.

Description:

viii, 341 pages illustrations, map, plans 24 cm

Notes:
Includes bibliographical references (pages 316-319).
pt. 1. Origins. Foundation stones -- The Cathedral of Saint Stephen, Protomartyr -- The second cathedral : the Triumph of the Virgin -- pt. 2. The renewal of all things. Maurice de Sully and the twelfth-century flowering -- Paris in Gothic transition : Sugar and Saint-Denis -- France in transition : the election of Maurice -- pt. 3. Notre-Dame. The decision to build, 1160-1163 -- The basic plan, 1163 -- The choir and the apse, 1163-1182 -- The nave, 1160-1200? -- pt. 4. Notre-Dame, the classic phase. The western façade and the conquest of Normandy, 1204 -- The façade : a total architecture, 1200-1250 -- The three portals, 1200-1220 -- The façade as France : the kings, the rose, and the towers, 1220-1250 -- pt. 5. The completion of Notre Dame. The builders of roses -- The bishop's courtyard and the cloister -- The gift of Saint Louis.

Summary:

"The fascination of the middle ages has run in a strong current of interest from Sir Walter Scott through Henry Adams to the best historical writers of today. Now, using Norte-Dame of Paris as Adams used Mont-Saint-Michel and Chartres, Allan Temko gives us the story of the full flowering of medieval art and craftsmanship. Norte-Dame, perhaps the greatest single survivor among the magnificent works of that age, is reconstructed in this book, not as an architectural specimen, not as an historic monument, but as the embodiment of an age and a way of life. The story of its building and of the men and women who built it is one of the great sagas of group achievement. More than that, as an expression of human spirit it has undying meaning for civilized man. Visitors of Europe, if asked what single sight impressed them most, are likely to name the great cathedral on its island in the heart of Paris. Yet few are aware of the enormous riches it holds for the attentive visitor - riches of sculpture and structure and design, riches of historic association, riches of testimony to the faith and effort of the thousands of individuals who shared in its building. Mr. Temko re-creates for us the times that produced it, the historic figures who contributed to its growth, and the religion that inspired it. He takes us to many of the great cathedrals. Then he shows us the great choir rising while Louis VIII fought off Henry Plantagenet and Frederick Barbarossa; the nave completed and the western facade begun while Philip Augustus won Normandy and consolidated the power of the house of Capet; and the final splendor emerging under wily Blanche of castile and her sainted son Louis, off on his disastrous crusades. Norte-Dame of Paris teems with life and action, color and pageantry. It is written with an eloquence and a sweep of imagination that make if far more than a guide to the subject it covers; it ranges through political and social history, architecture, sculpture, engineering, biography, religion, and iconography. An inspired insight into one of the golden ages of man, it is an unforgettable reading experience for any history-minded or art-minded reader" - Publisher.

Subject:

Notre-Dame de Paris (Cathedral)
Notre-Dame de Paris (Cathédrale)
Cathedrals France.

Holdings:

Location: Library main 42592
Call No.: 0005793
Status: Available