In the 1790s the sculptural decoration of many French cathedrals was destroyed, and monastic churches were stripped of their royal and noble tombs. As a result, modern art historians have remained largely unaware of the link between architectural sculpture and monumental tomb sculpture. Some years ago, Anne Morganstern recognized the hand of a master sculptor who worked at Chartres in the little-known tomb of a nobleman. This connection prompted the author to investigate the relationship between the two. In High Gothic Sculpture at Chartres Cathedral, the Tomb of the Count of Joigny, and the Master of the Warrior Saints, Morganstern offers a new study of the sculptor whom Louis Grodecki associated with a group of stained-glass windows that he attributed to the "Master of Saint Cheron." Morganstern proposes that the windows reflect the designs of the sculptor whom she calls the "Master of the Warrior Saints," whether or not he was their designer. She also shifts the chronological framework associated with the south transept porch back approximately twenty years, a move that has broad implications for scholarly consideration of the development of French High Gothic sculpture.

About the Author

Anne McGee Morganstern is Professor Emerita of the History of Art at Ohio State University. She is the author of Gothic Tombs of Kinship in France, the Low Countries, and England (Penn State, 1999).

Reviews

"Anne McGee Morganstern's new book reconstructs the history of the tomb of Count Guillaume de Joigny in an impressively meticulous fashion. It is a genuine and significant addition to the literature."

-Walter Cahn,Yale University

"In her thoughtful and thorough High Gothic Sculpture at Chartres Cathedral, the Tomb of the Count of Joigny, and the Master of the Warrior Saints, Anne McGee Morganstern reassesses the much-studied sculpture of the Chartres south transept through innovative comparisons with the tomb sculpture of Count Guillaume de Joigny. These investigations clarify the nature of the sculptural workshop during the thirteenth century, an issue of vital importance to all who study medieval art. Additionally, she revitalizes the method of stylistic analysis in a way that is useful to twenty-first-century readers. This book is a significant contribution to the study of Gothic sculpture."

-Susan Leibacher Ward,Rhode Island School of Design, co-director of the Census of Gothic Sculpture in America

Book Information
ISBN 9780271048659
Author Anne McGee Morganstern
Format Hardback
Page Count 216
Imprint Pennsylvania State University Press
Publisher Pennsylvania State University Press
Weight(grams) 907g
Dimensions(mm) 254mm * 203mm * 22mm