Sanctuaries of Earth, Stone, and LightSanctuaries of Earth, Stone, and Light
the Churches of Northern New Spain, 1530-1821
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Book, 2007
Current format, Book, 2007, , Available .Book, 2007
Current format, Book, 2007, , Available . Offered in 0 more formatsAn unusually impressive survey that is sure to become a standard resource in the field, this volume offers a thorough architectural history of Spanish colonial church architecture in Northern New Spain, an area that now falls in the southwestern U.S. and northern Mexico. Giffords, a conservator and specialist on Spanish colonial art, has organized the material by subject, with chapters on architectural styles; ground plans; builders, materials, and building techniques; church buildings; their decoration; and church furnishing. Symbols, iconography, and religious are the subject of separate chapters. The volume is beautifully illustrated with b&w photos, many of them period photographs of churches that no longer stand. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Over nearly three centuries, Jesuit, Franciscan, and Dominican missionaries built a network of churches throughout the &;new world&; of New Spain. Since the early twentieth century, scholars have studied the colonial architecture of southern New Spain, but they have largely ignored the architecture of the north. However, as this book clearly demonstrates, the colonial architecture of Northern New Spain&;an area that encompasses most of the southwestern United States and much of northern Mexico&;is strikingly beautiful and rich with meaning. After more than two decades of research, both in the field and in archives around the world, Gloria Fraser Giffords has authored the definitive book on this architecture.
Giffords has a remarkable eye for detail and for images both grand and diminutive. Because so many of the buildings she examines have been destroyed, she sleuthed through historical records in several countries, and she discovered that the architecture and material culture of northern New Spain reveal the influences of five continents. As she examines objects as large as churches or as small as ornamental ceramic tile she illuminates the sometimes subtle, sometimes striking influences of the religious, social, and artistic traditions of Europe (from the beginning of the Christian era through the nineteenth century), of the Muslim countries ringing the Mediterranean (from the seventh through the fifteenth centuries), and of Northern New Spain&;s indigenous peoples (whose art influenced the designs of occupying Europeans).
Sanctuaries of Earth, Stone, and Light is a pathbreaking book, featuring 200 stunning photographs and over 300 illustrations ranging from ceremonial garments to detailed floor plans of the churches.
Over nearly three centuries, Jesuit, Franciscan, and Dominican missionaries built a network of churches throughout the &;new world&; of New Spain. Since the early twentieth century, scholars have studied the colonial architecture of southern New Spain, but they have largely ignored the architecture of the north. However, as this book clearly demonstrates, the colonial architecture of Northern New Spain&;an area that encompasses most of the southwestern United States and much of northern Mexico&;is strikingly beautiful and rich with meaning. After more than two decades of research, both in the field and in archives around the world, Gloria Fraser Giffords has authored the definitive book on this architecture.
Giffords has a remarkable eye for detail and for images both grand and diminutive. Because so many of the buildings she examines have been destroyed, she sleuthed through historical records in several countries, and she discovered that the architecture and material culture of northern New Spain reveal the influences of five continents. As she examines objects as large as churches or as small as ornamental ceramic tile she illuminates the sometimes subtle, sometimes striking influences of the religious, social, and artistic traditions of Europe (from the beginning of the Christian era through the nineteenth century), of the Muslim countries ringing the Mediterranean (from the seventh through the fifteenth centuries), and of Northern New Spain&;s indigenous peoples (whose art influenced the designs of occupying Europeans).
Sanctuaries of Earth, Stone, and Light is a pathbreaking book, featuring 200 stunning photographs and over 300 illustrations ranging from ceremonial garments to detailed floor plans of the churches.
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- Tucson : University of Arizona Press, 2007.
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