Most of the seven million people who visit the cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris each year probably do not realize that the legendary gargoyles adorning this medieval masterpiece were not constructed until the nineteenth century. The first comprehensive history of these world-famous monsters; The Gargoyles of Notre-Dame argues that they transformed the iconic thirteenth-century cathedral into a modern monument.Michael Camille begins his long-awaited study by recounting architect Eugegrave;ne Viollet-le-Ducrsquo;s ambitious restoration of the structure from 1843 to 1864; when the gargoyles were designed; sculpted by the little-known Victor Pyanet; and installed. These gargoyles; Camille contends; were not mere avatars of the Middle Ages; but rather fresh creationsmdash;symbolizing an imagined pastmdash;whose modernity lay precisely in their nostalgia. He goes on to map the critical reception and many-layered afterlives of these chimeras; notably in the works of such artists and writers as Charles Meacute;ryon; Victor Hugo; and photographer Henri Le Secq. Tracing their eventual evolution into icons of high kitsch; Camille ultimately locates the gargoylesrsquo; place in the twentieth-century imagination; exploring interpretations by everyone from Winslow Homer to the Walt Disney Company.Lavishly illustrated with more than three hundred images of its monumental yet whimsical subjects; The Gargoyles of Notre-Dame is a must-read for historians of art and architecture and anyone whose imagination has been sparked by the lovable monsters gazing out over Paris from one of the worldrsquo;s most renowned vantage points.
#507504 in eBooks 2009-09-25 2009-09-25File Name: B002RGMJU4
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Great subject. great book.By Rachael LamkinFantastic. Interesting and thorough (without employing the cumbersome and self conscious academic language employed in many texts on the broader subject). And for those in performance art self study. its rich with material.
