'Heavenly Vaults: From Romanesque to Gothic in European Architecture' (2009), a book by an Australian photographer David Stephenson, shows us vaulted ceilings of more than eighty Romanesque and Gothic churches, cathedrals, and basilicas all across Western Europe. These incredibly atmospheric images of naves, crossings, apses and choirs are combined into diptychs
and triptychs to create anthropomorphic designs. Using long exposures,
Stephenson continues to explore notions of the sublime in architecture, the survey that he had began in his previous volume - 'Visions of Heaven: The Dome in European Architecture' published in 2005.
The sites include Notre Dame and Sainte-Chapelle in Paris, Chartres, the
cathedrals in Laon, Mechelen, Soissons, and Ghent and chapels in Bath,
York, Lincoln and Cambridge. In an accompanying essay, the author charts
the history of the vault construction and explains its technological developments. A
foreword by photography curator Isobel Crombie puts Stephenson's work
in context.
Stephenson's own conclusion:
„An echo of the Gothic vault system of skeletonized reinforcing ribs can even be seen in some of the most innovative contemporary steel and concrete architecture, although the virtuosity of Gothic stone masonry techniques is gone forever. Every Gothic church represents a solution by its creators to a range of spiritual, liturgical, political, economic, structural, and aesthetic problems. Though the remoteness of these concerns makes the understanding of them difficult for us today, we can relate to the great Gothic churches as some of the most compelling art ever produced, still capable of providing an all-encompassing, transcendent experience.“
Stephenson's own conclusion:
„An echo of the Gothic vault system of skeletonized reinforcing ribs can even be seen in some of the most innovative contemporary steel and concrete architecture, although the virtuosity of Gothic stone masonry techniques is gone forever. Every Gothic church represents a solution by its creators to a range of spiritual, liturgical, political, economic, structural, and aesthetic problems. Though the remoteness of these concerns makes the understanding of them difficult for us today, we can relate to the great Gothic churches as some of the most compelling art ever produced, still capable of providing an all-encompassing, transcendent experience.“
Convent church of St. Mary, Hieronymites Monastery, Belém, Portugal, 1501-17
Saint Barbara's Church, Kutna Hora, Czech Republic, started in 1388, the vault designed in 1512, finally completed between 1540-48
The Choir Saint Hugh, Lincoln Cathedral, UK, 1185-1311
Laon Cathedral, France, 1160-1230
All images © David Stephenson | Via: Brain Pickings
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