Ad Quadratum (Avista Studies in the History of Mediieval Technology, Science and Art Series): The Practical Application of Geometry in Medieval Architecture, Vol. 1 FROM THE PUBLISHER
The purpose of the project is to provide the most up-to-date survey on issues dealing with practical geometry and how it might have been applied in the design of medieval architecture. Chronologically, the topics cover a wide span - from early Medieval through Late Gothic. Geographically, the monuments under discussion range from Early Medieval Florence through Carolingian Germany, Crusader Cyprus, Romanesque France and Gothic England. The applications of both geometry and metrology are considered in this volume, often with illustrations generated by computer-assisted design (CAD) software. The project therefore offers recent scholarship in the field, as well as cutting-edge technology which helps propel the pursuit of such studies. To this end, the project is the first of its kind both in terms of its focus and its comprehensiveness. Such a project is sorely needed to introduce this highly specialized discipline to other historians of art, history, and science of the Middle Ages, as well as historians in most humanistic areas.
About the Author:About the Editor: Nancy Y. Wu, Dr, Associate Museum Educator, The Cloisters - The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA
SYNOPSIS
The eleven essays of this collection provide detailed examples of how geometry was used in the creation of several medieval cathedrals. Some of the essays give an overview to the use of geometry, with an essay on the geometry of a Carolingian wall, the use of three measures to construct a Romanesque church, and the use of measure and proportion in Romanesque architecture. Among the specific buildings discussed are Reims, Beauvais, Amiens, Clermont, and Narbonne cathedrals in France, the Cathedral of Metz in Germany, and the Church of St. George of the Latins in Famagusta, Cyprus. Annotation (c)2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR