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Contents
List of Illustrations
Prolegomena
1. Un Peu d’Histoire
2. The Rosaces of the Chevet
3. The Lancets of the Chevet
4. The Transepts: Grisailles, Roses, and Belles Verrières
5. The Rosaces of the Nave
6. The Lancets of the Nave
7. The Glazing of the West Facade
Coda: Comparanda
Appendix 1: Heresy in Champagne
Appendix 2: Genealogy of Archbishop Henri de Braine
Appendix 3: Ogive Glass of Bays 100–104
Appendix 4: The “Spanish Connection”: Legends of the Apostle James, Translations by Pierre de Beauvais, and the Family of Archbishop Henri de Braine
Appendix 5: Pierre de Beauvais and the Bestiary
Appendix 6: King Solomon in Bed (Song of Songs 3:7–8)
Appendix 7: Lectulus and Ferculum (Song of Songs 3:7, 9)
Appendix 8: Two Seraphim Attributed to Reims in U.S. Collections
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index
Meredith Parsons Lillich is Professor Emerita of Art at Syracuse University.
“In this spectacular book—the fruit of profound research—Meredith
Lillich rescues the stained glass of Reims Cathedral from
obscurity. With careful scrutiny of the remains and always mindful
of the limitations of the evidence, Lillich coaxes the glass to
reveal its remarkable secrets. The result is a stunning evocation
of the history of the thirteenth century, including the nature and
extent of episcopal power in the period, the concern with heresy,
and the splendor and ambition of the French monarchy. This book has
no rivals and hardly any equals.”—William Chester Jordan,Princeton
University
“A masterly analysis of the stained glass of Reims Cathedral, until
now a largely neglected stepchild of the cathedral’s sculptural
decoration. Style is not overlooked, and the different phases of
glazing are dated, but Meredith Lillich’s aim is to present a
convincing case for the iconography of the clerestory windows,
reflecting the uses of the areas of the cathedral below them:
chevet, the apostolic succession of the archbishops of Reims and
their suffragans; transept, the chapter and its offices; nave, the
coronation site. This is done with many a well-turned phrase,
buttressed with extensive documentation and full-color
illustrations of the glass.”—Carl F. Barnes Jr.,former president of
The International Center of Medieval Art
“Wittily and compellingly written, meticulously and imaginatively
researched, and lavishly illustrated, Meredith Lillich's The Gothic
Stained Glass of Reims Cathedral is an impressive achievement. She
situates the glass in the liturgical, historical, and political
context of the coronation cathedral of France, studying its origins
and the many vicissitudes experienced by the precious pieces that
have survived. Focusing on the glass, Lillich provides a host of
insights into and observations about the church that houses the
windows, the individuals who created and preserve them, and the
monarchs who traveled to Reims to receive their crowns within the
church's precincts.”—Elizabeth A. R. Brown,Brooklyn College,
CUNY
“The cathedral of Reims is a vital element of French medieval
political and ecclesiastical history as well as a much-studied
monument for its architecture and sculpture. Renovations, natural
and human disasters, and equally problematic restoration campaigns
have obstructed a competent overview of its windows. Meredith
Lillich has been engaged in the study of Reims for many years, and
this publication emerges as the definitive volume on the
glazing.”—Virginia Raguin,College of the Holy Cross
“This is, flat out, a great book, one destined to be both a classic
in medieval studies and a model for future scholars. Meredith
Parsons Lillich has accomplished a ‘scholarly miracle’: an
excellent, comprehensive, readable analysis of the many complex,
sophisticated, and multivalent programs of stained glass in the
upper (clerestory) windows at Reims Cathedral, arguably the most
important Gothic cathedral in France. This superb book goes a long
way toward filling one of the largest ‘black holes’ in our
knowledge of thirteenth-century Gothic art.”—William W.
Clark,Queens College, CUNY
“Meredith Lillich is a preeminent specialist in the study of French
Gothic stained glass. During a distinguished academic career as a
legendary teacher of art history, she has published spectacular
studies of stained glass that have become models of art-historical
interpretation for generations of students and scholars. But her
book on Reims is particularly special. She explores the cathedral’s
curiously understudied windows from a variety of perspectives—from
the stylistic habits and design tendencies of the artists who
produced them to the messages they conveyed to the audiences who
initially viewed them. The elaborate programs of the upper-story
glazing emerge as carefully crafted visual dialogues around the
bold moral concerns of the Church and its claim to power during the
thirteenth century; they balance broad ecclesiastical agendas with
focused local meanings related to the role of this archiepiscopal
see as an administrative hub and as the coronation site for the
kings of France. Lillich writes with clarity, insight, and verve,
her language embodying her affection and enthusiasm for this major
medium of medieval painting and the dedicated human beings who
created the windows and devised their meanings. This is a book to
be cherished by all who are interested in cathedrals, stained-glass
windows, and the rich Gothic culture that brought them into
being.”—Michael W. Cothren,Swarthmore College
“Lillich is refreshingly practical in her view of the unfolding of
the glass and of the discourses of power and division which have
dominated some recent discussions of Rheims. Lillich is a
contextualist when she needs to be, but above all she brings to
this study the experience and relaxed assurance of a lifetime’s
work, and patiently pulls together the information in a way that
helps the reader. Arranged as an east-west exposition of the glass,
her monograph contains all the technical material that will satisfy
specialists in regard to reordering, reuse (including pre-1210
glass from the previous church), damage and conservation. She works
methodically through to the glazing of the west front. This book is
thoroughly documented, clearly written and makes the very best of
an exceptionally demanding subject.”—Paul Binski The Art
Newspaper
“This book is fundamental reading for all scholars of the glazing
programme at Reims cathedral.”—Pippa Salonius Parergon
“The Gothic Stained Glass of Reims Cathedral offers an unparalleled
and exceptional analysis of an insufficiently explored glazing
program of immense artistic richness. Lillich’s book, supported by
a grant from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, is
compellingly written, meticulously researched, and enriched with
extensive documentation and full-color illustrations of the glass.
. . . Intended for both specialists and nonspecialists, the book is
easy to read and will interest not only art historians, but also
anyone passionate about medieval architecture.”—Andrzej Dziedzic
Sixteenth Century Journal
“It is a genuine pleasure to read The Gothic Stained Glass of Reims
Cathedral, for one is in the company of an art historian who not
only knows and loves her trade, but whose breadth of knowledge
ranges from medieval foldstools to ferculum Salomonis; from
heraldry to royal fashion; and from angelic symphonic instruments
to bishops’ seals.”—Donna Sadler Speculum
“Thèse, synthèse, hypothèse. Ces trois mots peuvent résumer
l’impression que donne ce livre. Érudition brillante, fruit d’un
travail mûri, mise au point en grande partie définitive sur un
vaste sujet qui était bien mal connu et propositions parfois
hardies, qui auront le mérite de faire réagir et encore progresser
la recherche.”—Patrick Demouy Bulletin monumental
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