Êmile Mâle

Chartres Cathedral, also known as Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Chartres, is a medieval Roman Rite Catholic cathedral located in Chartres, France, about 80 kilometres (50 mi) southwest of Paris. It is considered one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The current cathedral, mostly constructed between 1194 and 1250, is the last of at least five which have occupied the site since the town became a bishopric in the 4th century.

Lyons cathedral, Noyon cathedral, Padua cathedral, Notre Dame de Paris, Sainte Chapelle, Poitiers cathedral, Reims cathedral, Rouen cathedral, St Denis basilica, St Julien du Sault (Burgundy), St. Quentin collegiate church, Semur church, Senlis cathedral, Sens cathedral, Soissons cathedral, Strasburg cathedral, Tours cathedral, Troyes cathedral, St. James, St. Nicholas, St. Martin, St. Louis, etc.

"To French art historian Male, Christian art is an unfolding drama of the earthly revelation of the divine spirit, with influences interacting across centuries. Author of such popular books as The Gothic Image, he writes with passion and scholarship. He marvels at the earliest Syrian portrayals of the Gospel story, in which turbulent realism triumphed over Hellenic calm; he ties the battlements of Mont-Saint-Michel to the saga of Joan of Arc. Following Roman roads across Arab Spain, he admires firsthand the ``gossamer wonders'' of Cordoba's Great Mosque and speculates that it must have inspired the architect of Notre-Dame-du-Port. First published in 1927, now translated into English for the first time, this collection of specialized essays leaps from French Gothic ivories and glass paintings to Raphael, in whose pictures ``one senses the presence of God everywhere.'' -- Publisher's Weekly.