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The Gothic Image: Religious Art in France of the Thirteenth Century
Emile Male's book aids understanding of medieval art and medieval symbolism, and of the vision of the world which presided over the building of the French cathedrals. It looks at French religious art in the Middle Ages, its forms, and especially the Eastern sources of sculptural iconography used in the cathedrals of France. Fully illustrated with many footnotes it acts as a useful guide for the student of Western culture.
414 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1899
About the author
Émile Mâle
133 books6 followersÉmile Mâle was a French art historian, one of the first to study medieval, mostly sacral French art and the influence of Eastern European iconography thereon. He was a member of the Académie française, and a director of the Académie de France à Rome.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
December 30, 2012
Should it be reassuring that I used, years ago, the same book that Proust carried with him when he set himself to follow Ruskin's trail on Gothic architecture?
My Professor on the subject was also a Ruskinian and often began his lectures quoting his writings.
I have to rescue this book from storage and read it again.
My Professor on the subject was also a Ruskinian and often began his lectures quoting his writings.
I have to rescue this book from storage and read it again.
April 28, 2017
Victor Hugo, who was no slouch himself when it came to big-ass churches as the settings for great stories, once wrote: "In the Middle Ages, men had no great thought that they did not write down in stone."
That pretty much sums up Mâle's work, an exhaustive and endlessly fascinating exploration of the porches, facades, windows, and walls of some of France's most famous Gothic churches. Using the frame of the work of Vincent de Beauvais (I'm a name-droppin' mofo today), Mâle approaches the gothic church as a place where familiar stories, symmetries, and formulas were etched, whether Biblical, Apocryphal or, since saints were once seen as far preferable to kings as far as the value of their contribution to mankind, saints.
There is so much to wonder at and puzzle over, you could feast on Mâle for days. Proust did and if you read "La Recherche" you'll see evidence of the structure-as-palimpsest and more.
Really, just an outstanding example of how the world used to view itself as a symbolism for something more, far removed from the banal insufficiences of our present arts.
That pretty much sums up Mâle's work, an exhaustive and endlessly fascinating exploration of the porches, facades, windows, and walls of some of France's most famous Gothic churches. Using the frame of the work of Vincent de Beauvais (I'm a name-droppin' mofo today), Mâle approaches the gothic church as a place where familiar stories, symmetries, and formulas were etched, whether Biblical, Apocryphal or, since saints were once seen as far preferable to kings as far as the value of their contribution to mankind, saints.
There is so much to wonder at and puzzle over, you could feast on Mâle for days. Proust did and if you read "La Recherche" you'll see evidence of the structure-as-palimpsest and more.
Really, just an outstanding example of how the world used to view itself as a symbolism for something more, far removed from the banal insufficiences of our present arts.
June 21, 2015
Illustrated Edition, Translated by Dora Nussey from the third French edition, published in 1913; 1958
Pros: tons of information packed into 400 pages, goes over all the main sources and stories depicted on French Gothic cathedrals, lots of great illustrations
Cons: can be dry in parts, occasionally expresses prejudices
I read this in university for one of my Medieval Studies courses and was lucky enough to find a used edition. The book is now out of copyright and can be read for free via Archive.org (available in black and white and with off white pages) https://archive.org/details/cu3192402... OR https://archive.org/details/religious... - Always download the pdf version of old books. The ebook version tends to get messy when there are page headings and footnotes and become difficult if not impossible to read).
Though old, this is still one of the best studies of 13th Century French cathedral art and its interpretation written. In contract to some of his contemporaries and predecessors, M. Male attempted to explain the figures in sculpture and stained glass using texts produced by the middle ages. By doing so, he clarifies and corrects several misinterpretations of characters and stories.
He writes the book using the organizational style taken from Vincent de Beauvais’ Speculum Maius (The Great Mirror), which explained how everything from history to nature was a type for Christ and spiritual things. It is separated into four parts: the mirror of nature, the mirror of instruction (or doctrine), the mirror of morals, and the mirror of history. The final book is further subdivided by Male into the Old Testament, the Gospels, Apocryphal stories, Saints, secular history, and the end of times. Through these categories, the whole of the cathedrals is laid bare for the reader.
Male assumes a familiarity with the stories of the Bible, though he does detail the stories enough that even those unfamiliar with it should be able to follow along. The wealth of information contained here is incredible, and if you go in not knowing Bible characters or Christian saints, you’ll leave knowing a lot about them.
There are a lot of great illustrations and photos, though their placement leaves a little to be desired, as you sometimes have to flip ahead or backwards to find the photo of what he’s talking about.
The book mentions some of the renovations that had been done by his time and lamented the damage done to the monuments in the past during the iconoclasm and French Revolution, but of course he had no way to anticipate the even worse damages to come with World War II and acid rain. So the book preserves some images of things that were already gone by his time (he reproduces some illustrations from older works) and that are now gone or reproduced today. In a few instances the names he attributes to people aren’t what they’re deemed now, either due to more research or to misinformation. In a few other instances, he has information about windows and sculptures that no longer exist (as with two black windows in Chartres that he attributes to particular saints).
The book can be a bit dry and academic at times, but it’s worth pushing through those parts. And if you’re worried you won’t be able to, skip ahead to the chapter on the Saints and the one on the end of the world, as both were fascinating.
The author on a few occasions expressed some of his own prejudices against peoples of the past. These aren’t obvious, but there are a couple of disparaging remarks (I specifically remember one about Ethiopia and one about India).
My other complaint is that he references books that still haven’t been translated into English, meaning if you don’t read Latin you have no way of reading these works yourself. I’d dearly love to read some of his sources, especially the Speculum Maius, Glossa Ordinaria by Walafrid Strabo, the sermons of Honorius of Autun, Traditiones Teratologiques by Berger de Xivrey, and more. Perhaps because of this, there are a few places where Male quotes an ancient text and it’s left in the original language with no footnote telling you what it means.
Despite the age of the book and the few complaints, it really is an amazing book and highly recommended for anyone interested in art history, the middle ages, and saints.
Pros: tons of information packed into 400 pages, goes over all the main sources and stories depicted on French Gothic cathedrals, lots of great illustrations
Cons: can be dry in parts, occasionally expresses prejudices
I read this in university for one of my Medieval Studies courses and was lucky enough to find a used edition. The book is now out of copyright and can be read for free via Archive.org (available in black and white and with off white pages) https://archive.org/details/cu3192402... OR https://archive.org/details/religious... - Always download the pdf version of old books. The ebook version tends to get messy when there are page headings and footnotes and become difficult if not impossible to read).
Though old, this is still one of the best studies of 13th Century French cathedral art and its interpretation written. In contract to some of his contemporaries and predecessors, M. Male attempted to explain the figures in sculpture and stained glass using texts produced by the middle ages. By doing so, he clarifies and corrects several misinterpretations of characters and stories.
He writes the book using the organizational style taken from Vincent de Beauvais’ Speculum Maius (The Great Mirror), which explained how everything from history to nature was a type for Christ and spiritual things. It is separated into four parts: the mirror of nature, the mirror of instruction (or doctrine), the mirror of morals, and the mirror of history. The final book is further subdivided by Male into the Old Testament, the Gospels, Apocryphal stories, Saints, secular history, and the end of times. Through these categories, the whole of the cathedrals is laid bare for the reader.
Male assumes a familiarity with the stories of the Bible, though he does detail the stories enough that even those unfamiliar with it should be able to follow along. The wealth of information contained here is incredible, and if you go in not knowing Bible characters or Christian saints, you’ll leave knowing a lot about them.
There are a lot of great illustrations and photos, though their placement leaves a little to be desired, as you sometimes have to flip ahead or backwards to find the photo of what he’s talking about.
The book mentions some of the renovations that had been done by his time and lamented the damage done to the monuments in the past during the iconoclasm and French Revolution, but of course he had no way to anticipate the even worse damages to come with World War II and acid rain. So the book preserves some images of things that were already gone by his time (he reproduces some illustrations from older works) and that are now gone or reproduced today. In a few instances the names he attributes to people aren’t what they’re deemed now, either due to more research or to misinformation. In a few other instances, he has information about windows and sculptures that no longer exist (as with two black windows in Chartres that he attributes to particular saints).
The book can be a bit dry and academic at times, but it’s worth pushing through those parts. And if you’re worried you won’t be able to, skip ahead to the chapter on the Saints and the one on the end of the world, as both were fascinating.
The author on a few occasions expressed some of his own prejudices against peoples of the past. These aren’t obvious, but there are a couple of disparaging remarks (I specifically remember one about Ethiopia and one about India).
My other complaint is that he references books that still haven’t been translated into English, meaning if you don’t read Latin you have no way of reading these works yourself. I’d dearly love to read some of his sources, especially the Speculum Maius, Glossa Ordinaria by Walafrid Strabo, the sermons of Honorius of Autun, Traditiones Teratologiques by Berger de Xivrey, and more. Perhaps because of this, there are a few places where Male quotes an ancient text and it’s left in the original language with no footnote telling you what it means.
Despite the age of the book and the few complaints, it really is an amazing book and highly recommended for anyone interested in art history, the middle ages, and saints.
January 27, 2015
I think that I can probably now say that I’ve read this book in its entirety; even if my achievement has actually been spread over a number of stages over a number of years. I have been betrayed by my inadequate attention span for this subject, and not by the author.
Emile Mäle’s book is actually really very good; providing that the reader possesses a healthy sense of curiosity and a tenacious interest in the subject. Knowledge distilled; knowledge disseminated. However, the delicious meat of the Preface and two introductory chapters can lead the unwary reader into a bedazzled sense of confidence. Can medieval iconography really be this illuminating, this much fun?
Each chapter beyond those introductory chapters acts like a stock cube of acute observation and concentrated wisdom. A simple dictate of survival forces the reader to slow down, assimilate, and ponder upon what is read: The Mirror (reflection) of Nature, The Mirror of Instruction, The Mirror of Morals, the Mirror of History. The visual representation of Christianity and the power of the Roman Catholic Church of the thirteenth century.
Or, “How to read the rocks” by studying the ecclesiastical stonework and painting around you. I don’t mean passive reading for the purpose of gaining a sense of the narrative and picturesque. Instead this is visual reading for the inward learning and appreciation dogma and power, and in whose hands that power is/was vested: and don’t you forget it!
173 drawings and photographic illustrations are informatively embedded into the text. The index of works of Art at the back of the book make this volume a good choice for anyone on a holiday or study tour visiting the castles, churches and cathedrals of France.
Mäle’s book celebrates its centenary next year (2013). Do not be lulled into dismissing it; for it is terrifically relevant to our present day; as our Western Society slips backwards into an age of revival of visual communication, where popular mass culture unhesitatingly embraces the visual language of film, TV, and YouTube, in preference the written word; the poor literacy of schoolchildren is merely sighed over, and the secular word ‘democracy’ is invoked to mean all things to all mankind (inclusive). …. not really so dissimilar to the message of the medieval Church.
Emile Mäle’s book is actually really very good; providing that the reader possesses a healthy sense of curiosity and a tenacious interest in the subject. Knowledge distilled; knowledge disseminated. However, the delicious meat of the Preface and two introductory chapters can lead the unwary reader into a bedazzled sense of confidence. Can medieval iconography really be this illuminating, this much fun?
Each chapter beyond those introductory chapters acts like a stock cube of acute observation and concentrated wisdom. A simple dictate of survival forces the reader to slow down, assimilate, and ponder upon what is read: The Mirror (reflection) of Nature, The Mirror of Instruction, The Mirror of Morals, the Mirror of History. The visual representation of Christianity and the power of the Roman Catholic Church of the thirteenth century.
Or, “How to read the rocks” by studying the ecclesiastical stonework and painting around you. I don’t mean passive reading for the purpose of gaining a sense of the narrative and picturesque. Instead this is visual reading for the inward learning and appreciation dogma and power, and in whose hands that power is/was vested: and don’t you forget it!
173 drawings and photographic illustrations are informatively embedded into the text. The index of works of Art at the back of the book make this volume a good choice for anyone on a holiday or study tour visiting the castles, churches and cathedrals of France.
Mäle’s book celebrates its centenary next year (2013). Do not be lulled into dismissing it; for it is terrifically relevant to our present day; as our Western Society slips backwards into an age of revival of visual communication, where popular mass culture unhesitatingly embraces the visual language of film, TV, and YouTube, in preference the written word; the poor literacy of schoolchildren is merely sighed over, and the secular word ‘democracy’ is invoked to mean all things to all mankind (inclusive). …. not really so dissimilar to the message of the medieval Church.
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May 26, 2026Medieval figurative art is so unrealistic, compared to the art of the Renaissance and later periods, that it has become a rich source of memes online. It often seems like the artists never saw horses or cats in their lives, and attempted a representation of them from second hand descriptions, and humans can often be strangely exaggerated. As students occasionally ask me: why is it so bad?
This question is clearly lingering in Mâle's mind as he writes his classic study of the gothic image, and he answers it by giving a wide ranging introduction to the aesthetics of the gothic figurative art as it is represented in the cathedrals. Chartres Cathedral may be the most complete and mature expression of gothic art, with thousands of figurative representations in its windows, statuary, tympanums, etc. This vast collection of art is, as Mâle writes, a kind of book that should be legible to everyone. The artists therefore valued clarity of representation over ambiguity, i.e. if the viewer does not understand what is going on in the picture, the work is a failure. What is to be represented are the lives and works of holy people, saints, apostles, and the holy family, and their attributes should adhere to some kind of a stable system that precludes misunderstanding. Mâle even suggests that there may have been a kind of summa of art, now lost, that was used by artists to standardize representations, because they are strangely consistent across large geographical areas.
The fact that Mâle's book is necessary to decipher the gothic art world is a testament to the enduring victory of Renaissance aesthetic standards, which, historically speaking, is not an obvious conclusion, because realism has only been prized in a fairly small portion of the world (the west) and for a fairly short span of time (ca. 1400 to 1900). Its victory has been so complete that gothic aesthetics had to be dug out by specialists and historians, and some of it is lost to history.
This question is clearly lingering in Mâle's mind as he writes his classic study of the gothic image, and he answers it by giving a wide ranging introduction to the aesthetics of the gothic figurative art as it is represented in the cathedrals. Chartres Cathedral may be the most complete and mature expression of gothic art, with thousands of figurative representations in its windows, statuary, tympanums, etc. This vast collection of art is, as Mâle writes, a kind of book that should be legible to everyone. The artists therefore valued clarity of representation over ambiguity, i.e. if the viewer does not understand what is going on in the picture, the work is a failure. What is to be represented are the lives and works of holy people, saints, apostles, and the holy family, and their attributes should adhere to some kind of a stable system that precludes misunderstanding. Mâle even suggests that there may have been a kind of summa of art, now lost, that was used by artists to standardize representations, because they are strangely consistent across large geographical areas.
The fact that Mâle's book is necessary to decipher the gothic art world is a testament to the enduring victory of Renaissance aesthetic standards, which, historically speaking, is not an obvious conclusion, because realism has only been prized in a fairly small portion of the world (the west) and for a fairly short span of time (ca. 1400 to 1900). Its victory has been so complete that gothic aesthetics had to be dug out by specialists and historians, and some of it is lost to history.
September 27, 2018
This was really interesting though rather outside my day to day life. Most of the churches in my life are 19th century or newer and almost exclusively American. Though whenever I do get to France I'll probably be more prepared to visit cathedrals.
Best part of this book? The overall idea that unless there's actual written medieval support for why art reflects something then it's probably just speculation. Which works out to some scenes or stories are illustrated according to strict rules but other ones let the artists exercise their creativity.
Biggest complaint though, considering this is a translation from French they could've translated the Latin too. Maybe I'm not the intended audience but help me out here.
And I really do look forward to seeing France in person, you know, some day.
Best part of this book? The overall idea that unless there's actual written medieval support for why art reflects something then it's probably just speculation. Which works out to some scenes or stories are illustrated according to strict rules but other ones let the artists exercise their creativity.
Biggest complaint though, considering this is a translation from French they could've translated the Latin too. Maybe I'm not the intended audience but help me out here.
And I really do look forward to seeing France in person, you know, some day.
June 28, 2019
A fascinating "how-to" for interpreting Catholic iconography from its glory days. It's the kind of knowledge that the hero of a Dan Brown novel would know (or, if you prefer, it's like a nonfiction source book for an Umberto Eco's
Foucault's Pendulum
). You'll learn why certain things are carved into cathedrals. They're almost like encyclopedias of all the important knowledge of a 13th century Christian.
This is not an easy read, but one that someone who's interested in art history or Catholic history could probably get into. It inspired me to look into more legends from the 13th century, especially The Golden Legend.
This is not an easy read, but one that someone who's interested in art history or Catholic history could probably get into. It inspired me to look into more legends from the 13th century, especially The Golden Legend.
May 2, 2024
This book is over a hundred years old, and over a hundred years' worth of medieval scholarship have revealed things about the Middle Ages that would not have been known in Emile Mâle's day. Still, this was a good book, packed with information and illustrations that help us to understand how people lived and thought in the 13th century. (It was amusing to juxtapose Mâle's opinion of the 13th century with that of John Boswell, who I was reading at the same time. Mâle saw it as a golden age of civilization. Boswell saw it as the beginning of a long dark age.)
June 16, 2024
A masterpiece. More than a detailed overview of the art and Gothic cathedrals of medieval France, it is a spiritual journey into the genius of Christianity and its all-encompassing vision of reality.
April 14, 2025
Trace a constellation on my skin. I bet I can guess what it means with just a whisper.
December 30, 2009
Basic text and good starting point for the study of Medieval iconography.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews