Format:
XII, 187 S. : Ill.
ISBN:
0-520-07371-1
Content:
The Royal Abbey of Saint-Denis, one of the principal Gothic monuments of France, was completely restored in the nineteenth century. Contemporary critics denounced the restoration of the western portals and proclaimed the sculptures ruined forever by the blatantly discordant work and deprived of all historical interest. Because that opinion persisted, scholars have omitted the sculptural program from discussions of style in the Ile-de-France during the transition from Romanesque to Early Gothic art. In a study that is a model of archaeological methods, Pamela Z. Blum persuasively counters earlier scholars' assumptions. Early Gothic Saint-Denis: Restorations and Survivals presents convincing evidence for the survival, untouched, of a significant amount of twelfth-century scripture of high quality. Indeed, the well-preserved sculptural passages provide a key to the Early Gothic style as well as revealing the distinct styles of three mutually influenced artists. Blum's penetrating analyses of the techniques and materials used in restoration are accompanied by revealing photograph-diagrams that distinguish original from later work. Blum's investigation lays the groundwork for further stylistic and iconographic considerations of sculpture from any past century. Her work has relevance not only for students and scholars of medieval art but for curators and collectors as well. Anyone concerned with survivals from the past will appreciate the scrupulous processes of detection and connoisseurship that the author has applied to one of France's greatest monuments.
Language:
English
Subjects:
Art History
Keywords:
Figurenportal
;
Westportal
;
Restaurierung
;
Portal
;
Denkmalpflege
