Universe of Stone: A Biography of Chartres Cathedral | 
| Author: Philip Ball
Publisher: Harper
Category: Book
List Price: $27.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 122431
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 336
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 9.5 x 6.5 x 1.4
ISBN: 0061154296
Dewey Decimal Number: 720
EAN: 9780061154294
ASIN: 0061154296
Publication Date: July 1, 2008
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Product Description
Chartres Cathedral, south of Paris, is revered as one of the most beautiful and profound works of art in the Western canon. But what did it mean to those who constructed it in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries? And why, during this time, did Europeans begin to build churches in a new style, at such immense height and with such glorious play of light, in the soaring manner we now call Gothic? Universe of Stone shows that the Gothic cathedrals encode a far-reaching shift in the way medieval thinkers perceived their relationship with their world. For the first time, they began to believe in an orderly, rational world that could be investigated and understood. This change marked the beginning of Western science and also the start of a long and, indeed, unfinished struggle to reconcile faith and reason. By embedding the cathedral in the culture of the twelfth century—its schools of philosophy and science, its trades and technologies, its politics and religious debates—Philip Ball makes sense of the visual and emotional power of Chartres. Beautifully illustrated and written, filled with astonishing insight, Universe of Stone argues that Chartres is a sublime expression of the originality and vitality of a true "first renaissance," one that occurred long before the birth of Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, or Francis Bacon.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
 Good, not great October 19, 2008
UNIVERSE OF STONE really piqued my interest in Gothic architecture, medieval history, and Chartres in particular. That is no small accomplishment for a single book. Ball has hit upon a fascinating topic. That being said, I have the following quibbles: (1) I found Ball's written prose to be cumbersome, digressive in a way better suited to the lecture hall than the written page; (2) I would have appreciated more--and more helpfully labelled--diagrams to explain the architectural concepts Ball describes; and (3) it is a crime that there is only one exterior photograph of the cathedral, and it shows only the western facade and towers; having finished the boook, I still don't really know what Chartres actually looks like; the same could be said for interior shots: there is one excellent picture of the nave, but that's it; for a subject whose grandeur is the focus, to have but two pictures illustrating that grandeur seems a shame.
 Better Than A Trip To Chartres October 2, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I've taught an interdisciplinary course entitled "Cathedrals and Other Great Churches of Medieval Europe" a dozen times (twice in England), had Malcolm Miller as a guest lecturer (and tour guide at Chartres in one of my three visits there) and Peter Gibson of the York Minster Stained Glass Workshop as a guest lecturer (and tour guide at York Minster twice), visited more than a hundred medieval and renaissance great churches, and read at least parts of more than half of the books and articles listed in the seven-page bibliography of this book, and, in my judgment, no other book comes close to this one in providing real insight into understanding the great medieval churches. For my course, I used a reader I developed comprising excerpts from dozens of different books to give my students the breadth of ideas, opinions and knowledge needed to understand these great churches. Like many other compilations it suffered from wide variations in the "voices" of the various authors and from unevenness in coverage of the diverse subjects that students needed to grasp the significance of these monuments. I dreamed that some day I would have the time and energy to assemble a coherent anthology -- maybe one with a title like: "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Medieval Churches . . ." but, alas, retirement reared its ugly head and the motivation to do so disappeared. Now, however, Philip Ball has fulfilled my dream, and although he has done so in the context of a single great church, much of what he has written is applicable to most of them. His book makes me wish I hadn't retired so I could use it as a text. Not every reader will understand all of the nuances of the many subjects Ball covers in this book, but every reader with any interest in medieval churches will find this wonderfully well-written book to be not only a fascinating read but also a great addition to his or her library.
Out of anonymity September 5, 2008
While I've read many books on Romanesque and Gothic architecture, and have visited Chartres, I've always been frustrated by the lack of information available about the actual people who created the monuments. What a pleasure to finally find a book that focuses both on the intellectual movements that fueled the Gothic age, and the clergy and builders who were instrumental in the creative process.
While the book is excellent and well-written, I refrained from giving it five stars only because I think a reader would benefit from additional sources highlighting architectural details and comparisons with other cathedrals.
Ultimately Disappointing July 29, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
The author sets the bar high: a book that describes the design and building of the cathedral at Chartres while putting it into the context of medieval philosophy, theology, technology, science, politics and economy. In theory a laudable goal, but in practice a muddle. This reader was alternately bogged down in overly-long and involved chapters discussing the differences between scholastic Platonists and Aristotelians and disappointed that there wasn't more about the cathedral itself. Ball is a journalist who has obviously done his homework -- there's an extensive, multi-page bibliography and he quotes from dozens of experts -- but in the end this feels like a well-written overview of other people's writings on the subject, rather than an original look by a writer with any strong convictions himself. About halfway through this book I had the nagging thought I would have done better by re-reading Thomas Cahill's lively "Mysteries of the Middle Ages" and my nephew's illustrated copy of David Macaulay's "Cathedral." There's no shortage of wonderful books on Chartres and the building of the cathedrals and the curious reader should consider them seriously before investing in this book.
Outstanding New Book on Chartres Cathedral July 19, 2008
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
Why would someone write a biography of a BUILDING? Well, if you've ever been to Chartres Cathedral about 45 miles south-west of Paris, you'd know why. Chartres continues to provoke us with its emotive power, and its place in the history of Gothic architecture is firmly secured at "page 1" in our texts. That's why it was so exciting when we found out that there was a new treatment of Chartres being released this summer, and many reviewers, including those at The Economist and The Financial Times, took time to present the book to their reading audiences worldwide.
Ball's treatise on Chartres is a truly wonderful additional to the evolving library of Gothic. As a person who is familiar with the literature, I can easily say that his work here will make possible the introduction of this topic to an entirely new generation of people who are captivated by this most evocative of art forms. Ball has done what can be classified as nothing less than a superb job of collating, digesting, and then restating in clear, meaningful words the voluminous amount of material that is available on the subject. And this is no small task: the topic is the subject of attention of everyone from mechanical engineers, masonry experts, art historians, medieval historians, and even education historians. Most of these works are undeniably fascinating and tremendously enjoyable to read. But you will find yourself having to put on your "engineer's hat" to read Heyman's The Stone Skeleton: Structural Engineering of Masonry Architecture, then put on your "art historian's hat" to read Coldstream's Medieval Architecture (Oxford History of Art), and your "photographer's hat" to read Schultz's Great Cathedrals. There are dozens and dozens more books still on the open market just like these, and they all play an important role in helping us further understanding this fascinating topic. But Ball's book deftly summarizes and explicates many of the major themes of this content, and allows us to absorb it all in one text. I must confess that the book exceeded any expectations I had, and I am thoroughly impressed.
Ball's book covers far more than the physical elements of Chartres cathedral. We peer into the world of medieval scholasticism and Platonic thought in the cathedral schools of the 12th century to investigate what role, if any, such thought had on the development of the Gothic style. We read about Chartres' predecessor building, St. Denis basilica, just north of Paris, and the impact Suger had on this form there, and consider the potential linkages between these structures. We also take a quick course on medieval construction techniques, and listen to some of the hypotheses which engineering architects have devised to explain how such buildings could be constructed without electricity or power tools. We see how stained glass was manufactured, why the blue windows of Chartres are so unusual, and even hypothesize that "Chartres blue" may have been imported from other glass foundries outside of France. We also review the varying theories of the sequence of Chartres' construction that may explain its physical irregularities (for example, was the building constructed from east-to-west, or from west-to-east, and why are there "mismatches" between sections of the structure?).
There is much, much more. But all along the way, we are provided a wonderful, comprehensive introduction to the times, history, and settings of that "vulgar style called 'Gothic,'" which is regarded as one of the pinnacles of architectural and artistic achievement. If you are a Gothic enthusiast, get this book to enjoy and savor, the first new book on the subject in some time. But also buy a copy for a friend. There is probably no better way to introduce Chartres cathedral and Gothic architecture to a new generation of enthusiasts.
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