{"id":737,"date":"2015-05-01T00:00:37","date_gmt":"2015-05-01T04:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sequitur\/?p=737"},"modified":"2018-09-13T15:01:29","modified_gmt":"2018-09-13T19:01:29","slug":"grub-wonder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sequitur\/2015\/05\/01\/grub-wonder\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: ‘Gothic Wonder: Art, Artifice, and the Decorated Style, 1290-1350’"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a><\/p>\n

PAUL BINSKI. <\/strong>
\nGothic Wonder: Art, Artifice, and the Decorated Style, 1290-1350<\/em>. <\/strong>
\nNew Haven:\u00a0Yale University Press, 2014. 452pp.; 140 color ills., 175 b\/w. <\/strong>
\n$75.00<\/strong>
\n9780300204001<\/strong><\/p>\n

Paul Binski is well known among medievalists as an accomplished academic and expert on\u00a0Gothic art and architecture. In his latest book, Gothic Wonder<\/em>, which focuses on the art and\u00a0intentionality of the English Decorated Style, he re-establishes the Middle Ages as a time of\u00a0sublime aesthetic creativity.<\/p>\n

The English Decorated Style, a sub-genre of Gothic architecture, was a term first coined in\u00a0the 19th century. According to Binski, it is unusual in that the English style shaped, rather than\u00a0was shaped by, continental artistic trends. Part I, Mode, Invention and Means, introduces the\u00a0reader to contemporary aesthetic qualities such as similitudine<\/em> and auctoritas<\/em>, largely governed\u00a0by Augustinian values and determined by designers south of the Alps. The English Decorated\u00a0Style became popular with foreigners, as it was less reserved and more lyrical than its continental\u00a0counterparts who were \u201crestrained by a larger cultural hegemony\u201d (5). Binski connects the\u00a0subsequent popularity of the English Decorated Style<\/span>\u00a0to a strong institutionalized tradition of historic writing in\u00a0England, an interesting point, which might have been further elucidated. Unfortunately, he\u00a0focuses more on his resolve to move beyond the anxieties of nomenclature that permeate the\u00a0subject than on the unfulfilled connection he makes between historic writing and a flourishing art\u00a0culture.<\/p>\n

The inherent freedom of English architecture, in Binski\u2019s judgment, resulted from the\u00a0meeting of formal and metaphorical elements\u2014traceried windows, canopied niches, richly\u00a0decorated altars and temporary installations representing tourneys, all are connected to\u00a0manuscript illumination, which in turn gives the style its particular energy. After all, this style\u00a0was intended to be flamboyant and eye-catching, and Binski\u2019s stance is that its showy nature was\u00a0also doctrinally persuasive. One notable element in this regard is the Binski-dubbed\u00a0\u201ccurrilinearity\u201d\u2014curlicues that reflected the idea that \u201cI am a worm and no man\u201d (Psalm 21:7).\u00a0Incorporated into carved arches, these served not didactic purposes, but captured the audience\u2019s\u00a0attention.<\/p>\n

The English Decorated Style is most evident in architecture. Yet, happily, Binski also looks at\u00a0other art forms, including woodwork, glass and embroidery, that served as a conduit for the style.\u00a0One effective case study is the impact of English manuscripts on the capital sculptures in Santes\u00a0Creus Abbey in Iberia. More of this approach would be helpful for the wider medievalist\u00a0community, but that he looks at these \u201cminor arts\u201d at all is still a refreshing integration in a field\u00a0in which architecture still dominates, and one that many scholars will appreciate.\u00a0The last chapter\u2019s title, \u201cContagion,\u201d seems to herald the demise of the English Decorated\u00a0Style, in part due to the Black Plague that decimated the population and the 1327 English regime\u00a0change, among other things.<\/p>\n

Binski\u2019s work is highlighted with striking, high-quality illustrations, making this weighty\u00a0tome a work of art in itself. Throughout the volume, Binski supports his arguments with evidence\u00a0from well-known sources, such as Westminster Abbey and Canterbury Cathedral. The title is\u00a0somewhat misleading as he does focus on the architecture of the period, but his appreciation of\u00a0other art forms is evident. Few architectural historians have covered this topic with such depth\u00a0and breadth, and it is as accessible for the amateur enthusiast as it is for the well-read scholar,\u00a0making it a welcome addition to any library.<\/p>\n

Valentina S. Grub<\/h3>\n

Download Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PAUL BINSKI. Gothic Wonder: Art, Artifice, and the Decorated Style, 1290-1350. New Haven:\u00a0Yale University Press, 2014. 452pp.; 140 color ills., 175 b\/w. $75.00 9780300204001 Paul Binski is well known among medievalists as an accomplished academic and expert on\u00a0Gothic art and architecture. In his latest book, Gothic Wonder, which focuses on the art and\u00a0intentionality of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8848,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sequitur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/737"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sequitur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sequitur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sequitur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8848"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sequitur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=737"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sequitur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/737\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":957,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sequitur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/737\/revisions\/957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sequitur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sequitur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sequitur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}