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© Country Life Picture Library Published by Spire Books Ltd You can view the Georgian Group's web page at |
After the acceptance of the Classical style in Britain, Gothic went into a 300-year eclipse. Most historians have marginalised Gothic architecture during those centuries, treating it as either pedantic antiquarianism or rococo frivolity. Now, the buildings and the ideas behind them are becoming better understood. Gothic is emerging from the shadows as an architecure of protest. It provided a way of criticising the mainstream, whether religious or political, by contrasting an ideal past with a corrupt present. In this book, based on a Georgian Group symposium, several distinguished architectural historians take a fresh look at the subject. Michael Hall sets the scene, exploring why Gothic has been downplayed in most accounts of English architecture after 1530, Alexandrina Buchanan explains how preceptions - and the meanings - of medieval architecture changed between the 16th and 18th centuries, Maurice Howard examines the Elizabethan Gothic tradition, Tim Mowl the building of 17th-century Gothic churches and Giles Worsley revealingly explains Vanbrugh's architecture in terms of the search for a national style. Using previously unpublished documents, Terry Friedman examines a key monument of the 18th century - Hartwell church - and Rosemary Hill looks at late Georgian Gothic through the eyes of Catholics and Romantics. The book sheds light on an undervalued phase of British architecture - by turns beautiful, idiosynctratic and politically charged. This lavishly illustrated and beautifully presented volume is simply a must for anyone interested in architectural history.
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