Gothic Architecture: Gold and Stone

Catalog description

Key monuments of the Middle Ages, the Gothic cathedrals of Western Europe present a synthesis of the theological, economic, and social developments of the twelfth through fourteenth centuries. A harmonious marriage between technology and aesthetics, of political power and imagination, these immense and ingenious structures are as famous for their sculptural programs as they are for the liturgies that animated their spaces. Students will also be introduced to local uses of Gothic in Philadelphia architecture to better understand the lived experiences of these built manifestations of transcendence.