Palais SVV
272
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Painton COWEN. Medieval Roses. [30513]
See original version (French)
272
-
Painton COWEN. Medieval Roses. [30513]
See original version (French)
Estimate
€12 - €14
Voluntary lot
Description
Painton COWEN. Medieval Roses. [30513]
Editions du Seuil 1979, in/4 paperback, colour cover, 139 pages. Illustrations in black and white and colour. Photographs by the author; translated from the English by Edouard Deliman.
“The churches of Western Europe offer us, through these windows known as rose windows, works whose beauty is comparable to the most striking creations of the human spirit. Tracing the history of the rose window, Painton Cowen sees in it a way of responding to an eternal human need: that for a symbol of divine and cosmic unity. He traces its origins to the simple round opening known as the oculus, sees it identified with the Wheel of Fortune in Romanesque art, and then watches it flourish at the heart of the philosophical, scientific and religious renaissance of the 12th century, which gave rise to the great Gothic cathedrals. Their architects, in drawing up the plans for these vast concentric figures, incorporated into them an ever more complex network of geometric relationships and theological concepts: they served, the author asserts, as mandalas – soothing images of order amidst chaos. This book grew out of a pilgrimage to all the great sites of the Age of Cathedrals: most of the great rose windows are found in France, the home of Gothic architecture, notably in Paris, Chartres, Laon, Mantes and Sées. But Painton Cowen is also interested in the impressive ‘wheel-windows’ of Italy; and he is careful not to overlook the refinements of form and design offered by other great rose windows as diverse as those of Lincoln and Lausanne.”
See original version (French)
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ID: 88458280
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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