eishiya reviewed The Gothic Cathedral by Wilson, Christopher
A style guide to the Gothic great church
4 stars
The Gothic Cathedral is probably as good a work on its subject as you're going to get in 300 pages. The next step "up" would be monographs on individual great churches, which unsurprisingly form the bulk of the bibliography. It starts with the early Gothic elements in Romanesque basilicas, and traces their development through the subsequent 400 years, ending with an example of a late Gothic cathedral incorporating elements of the next major style in Christian architecture - the Renaissance. Though it doesn't attempt to discuss every Gothic cathedral, it covers many, including some that were not influential.
I just wish it had more drawings. While the photographs are good and well-chosen, it's hard to beat a drawing when it comes to discussing and showing proportions and details, and the drawings that are included demonstrate this. I referred to the drawings in Fletcher's History of Architecture several times, they made …
The Gothic Cathedral is probably as good a work on its subject as you're going to get in 300 pages. The next step "up" would be monographs on individual great churches, which unsurprisingly form the bulk of the bibliography. It starts with the early Gothic elements in Romanesque basilicas, and traces their development through the subsequent 400 years, ending with an example of a late Gothic cathedral incorporating elements of the next major style in Christian architecture - the Renaissance. Though it doesn't attempt to discuss every Gothic cathedral, it covers many, including some that were not influential.
I just wish it had more drawings. While the photographs are good and well-chosen, it's hard to beat a drawing when it comes to discussing and showing proportions and details, and the drawings that are included demonstrate this. I referred to the drawings in Fletcher's History of Architecture several times, they made a great companion.
There is a glossary of Gothic architectural features in the back, but while the labelled illustration that accompanies it is fantastic, I found the glossary itself a little frustrating with how much of it was just "see diagram", with little or no explanation of what each part usually does. There is an index of buildings and architects, but nothing for other topics. For example, there are a couple of places where the book discusses proportions, but good luck finding them if you don't remember which cathedral they pertained to.
Despite its flaws, I think this is a great resource, especially for artists seeking to understand Gothic churches and design their own. Though it's not the tabletop staple that History of Architecture is, I've already found myself referring back to it a few times for my art.