The book by the famous historian of medieval art Roland Recht offers a modern explanation of cathedral art as a visual artistic system, including architecture, sculpture, monumental painting, small sculpture. Based on the material of numerous scholastic texts and literary monuments in Latin, Middle High German and Old French, general cultural and religious living conditions, changes in the system of value orientations of Western European society of the late Middle Ages. Broad, often bold generalizations are combined in this work with a description and analysis of specific monuments: from the great, “classical” cathedrals - Chartres, Reims, Bourges and others - to little-studied temples, as well as small pieces of jewelry kept in museums around the world. The book is addressed to art historians, art historians, medieval historians, humanities students, and anyone interested in the culture of the Western Middle Ages and the history of art. CONTENTS: PREFACE TO THE RUSSIAN EDITION 7FROM THE TRANSLATOR 9INTRODUCTION 12PART ONE. FROM A NOVEL ABOUT MECHANICS TO THE CATHEDRAL OF LIGHT 17I. GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE: TECHNICAL AND SYMBOLIC ASPECTS 19Gothic system: “a novel about mechanics”? 20Symbolic interpretation and two world wars 29II. ORNAMENT, STYLE, SPACE 43The first and second Viennese schools 43August Shmarzov: art as a system 55The problem of style or the search for unity 59Space and painting as a projection 70PART TWO. INTRODUCTION TO CATHEDRAL ART 81III. THE VISIBLE AND THE INVISIBLE 83Looking at the Host 83Saint Francis and the Witness with Your Own Eyes 88Seeing the Mysteries 96Physics and Metaphysics of Vision 107IV. ARCHITECTURE AND THE CIRCLE OF “CONFIRMATIONS” 118 Relics and innovations in architecture 118 In search of visual impact 130 Iconology of architecture and the role of the architect 142 Chartres - Bourges: “classic” or “Gothic”? 152French model: Canterbury, Cologne, Prague. 163Architecture, color and stained glass 172V. FUNCTIONS OF THE SCULPTURAL IMAGE 190Venerated image 191Sculptural image and liturgy 203The cathedral as a theater of memory 219Expressiveness, color, drapery 232VI. MODELS, TRADITION OF FORMS AND TYPES, METHODS OF WORK 253New model: royal portrait 254Tradition of forms and types 264Creative methods 285Exhibition, art market 296CONCLUSION. THE CATHEDRAL AS A VISUAL SYSTEM 299APPENDIX. SUBJECT OF ART HISTORY 313LITERATURE ON TOPICS 335