Notre Dame, Cathedral of Amiens
The Power of Change in Gothic

This book is a comprehensive study of one of the most ambitious building programmes of the high middle ages. Offering a new approach to the traditional building monograph, Stephen Murray critically re-examines the documentary, archaeological, and historiographical evidence and contemporary theological debates, as well as the social, political and economic contexts in which Amiens was conceived and erected. By reintegrating these various data, Murray proposes a new chronology for the cathedral and, moreover, reconceptualises our understanding of the nature of medieval building campaigns, emphasising the dynamics of change that occurred during the course of construction. This revisionist study includes a newly-surveyed plan of Amiens, transcripts of key documents, and 195 black and white illustrations, many made especially for this edition.

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'Stephen Murray's interpretation rests on detailed observation of the physical structure, allied to a close reading of the surviving documents.' The Art Newspaper

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Product details

• Date Published: June 1996
• format: Hardback
• isbn: 9780521497350
• length: 256 pages

• dimensions: 287 x 224 x 25 mm
• weight: 1.38kg
• contains: 211 b/w illus.
• availability: Unavailable - out of print May 1999