Overview

This book is the first devoted to the important innovations in architecture that took place in western Europe between the death of emperor Justinian in A.D. 565 and the tenth century. During this period of transition from Late Antiquity to the Middle Ages, the Early Christian basilica was transformed in both form and function. Charles B. McClendon draws on rich documentary evidence and archaeological data to show that the buildings of these three centuries, studied in isolation but rarely together, set substantial precedents for the future of medieval architecture. He looks at buildings of the so-called Dark Ages - monuments that reflected a new assimilation of seemingly antithetical 'barbarian' and 'classical' attitudes toward architecture and its decoration - and at the grand and innovative architecture of the Carolingian Empire. The great Romanesque and Gothic churches of subsequent centuries owe far more to the architectural achievements of the Early Middle Ages than has been generally recognised, the author argues.

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9780300106886

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"""McClendon displays an impressive command of the sources and the secondary literature. . . .he writes in a fluent yet authoritative manner. . . ."""

McClendon displays an impressive command of the sources and the secondary literature. . . .he writes in a fluent yet authoritative manner. . . .

Author Information

Charles B. McClendon is associate professor and chair, Department of Fine Arts, Brandeis University. He is the author of The Imperial Abbey of Farfa - Architectural Currents of the Early Middle Ages, published by Yale University Press.

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