The Nineteenth Century's Middle Ages: Representation of the Middle Ages through nineteenth century novels or arts

Résumé du document

Mont Saint-Michel and Chartres (1913), by Henry Adams, is a study of the 13th century unity with descriptions about the medieval world. In this book, Henry Adams depicts several well-known monuments and old sights of France, all of which were built during the middle Ages. Published in 1913, this book gives a firsthand view of the monuments as experienced by Adams. As a foreword to his book, he explains the sights and sounds in his background as he experiences this bliss. He finds that the most perfect audience would be a young niece carrying a new Kodak camera, and emphasizes that all his descriptions should be read while bearing this picture in one's mind. He recounts his experience as if he is speaking to a curious ten-year old little girl with a craving for all things gothic. In this essay, we will focus on a particular sub-section of Mont Saint-Michel and Chartres, as Adams wanders in the gothic cathedral of Chartres. Located in the south-west of Paris, this cathedral draws him to the Virgin of Chartres, a statue representing the mother of Jesus Christ. It was assumed to be built according to the gothic tradition of the middle Ages. Adams lets his imagination wander as he tries to picture to himself in front of the Virgin's memories or reflections upon her statue as a godhead. He also gives a rather accurate description of the stained-glass windows which are depicted as huge frescos, allowing the reader to interpret further through the gothic structure. Further in the book, the reader can also find plans of the cathedral itself, reproduced from actual documents, that gives the measurements and lots of other different details such as angles and materials used in the construction.

Extraits

[...] She also replaces Trinity, and this is confirmed by Adams who explains that there is no representation of the Father nor of the Holy Ghost in the cathedral either. Throughout his journey in nineteenth century France, Adams gave us a rather sarcastic, but nonetheless interesting point of view of the habits and customs of the people living during the Middle Ages according to the way they built their cathedrals. This text can be viewed as a report from a nineteenth century journalist giving us his opinions on a great period of the history through his nineteenth century thinker's mind. [...]

[...] But she seems to be also the one to decide the way she would be represented in religious places: doubt the first command of the Queen of Heaven was for light, but the second, at least equally imperative, was for colour. ( ) Mary evidently insisted the arrangement of her private apartments, the apse, as distinguished form her throne-room Adams imagines here the Virgin as a human queen consciously giving orders to her people, and tries to read her mind as she is giving them. [...]

[...] The niece holding a camera can be rather seen as a granddaughter listening to her grandfather telling her stories and who will do the same to her grandchildren, but then containing opinions and theories of an even more modern civilization, and thus other points of view. [...]

[...] Queen Mother was as majestic as you like; ( ) but she was still a woman, who loved grace, beauty, ornament This comparison seems to be made to underline the thirteenth century society's humanity. That is to say, earthly queens may be at the highest rank of humanity, as far as power and religion are concerned, but they still remained human beings, and as human beings they have needs for different kinds of things. When replaced in the early nineteenth century world, needs seem to be money (industrial revolutions were then taking place all over Europe,) and spiritual blooming (the Enlightenment century is not so far behind.) and this must be why Adams gives very long explanations (about the reason for the Virgin to be the way she is in Chartres) according to economic, theological and literary factors. [...]

[...] The Nineteenth Century's middle Ages: Representation of the middle Ages through nineteenth century novels or arts Henry Adams, Mont Saint-Michel and Chartres (1913) In Mont Saint-Michel and Chartres, Henry Adams depicts several well- known monuments and old sights of France, all of which were built during the Middle Ages. In this book, published in 1913, Adams comments on those monuments as he is looking at them. As a foreword of his book, he explains in which conditions he is doing this, telling the reader that the most perfect audience would be a young niece carrying a new Kodak camera, and that all his descriptions should be read while bearing this in mind, that he's speaking to a curious ten-year old little girl with a craving for gothic things. [...]