Great episode. Chartres (in its major building stage) was started late 12th C and finished (for the most part) by mid 13th C approximately - in what sense does Clark "miss" the Alhambra which was completed (in its recognizable form) in the mid 14th C?
Clark's Civilization is subtitled "A Personal View" and its obviously a survey of Western culture's art, religion, values, history and personalities. More outside influences would've been interesting but he had only 13 episodes.
@tonycatman I don't know if you've been there yourself, but the cathedral of Chartres is one of the most jaw-dropping things I've ever seen. I went there almost by mistake with my gf at the time, and no one had told me anything about it. When we went past it I was awestruck and forced her to let me visit it. The flying buttresses are not particularly beautiful in themselves, but believe me they don't harm the aesthetics of the building and rather enhance the feeling of almost organic complexity.
Kenneth misses out on the Arabic Alhambra in Spain. He also misses the whole Arabic episode in Spain as much the same as what happened from the Roman world to our time.
@oker59 - He did not "miss out" the Alhambra, etc. Those were not part of what he was detailing. That was done by he and others in another set of programs, most of which were not aired for lack of veiwership.
Too much art, not much of anything else. He's missing the forest for the bling.
KhalidCabrero 8 months ago
It's a personal view. A personal view from a conservative reactionary.
ammypam 10 months ago
@ammypam "conservative reactionary" is a label not an arguement. How about challenging Clark's view with your head and not your prejudices?
Matthysdl 10 months ago 2
@Matthysdl He's the one with the prejudices.
ammypam 9 months ago
Great episode. Chartres (in its major building stage) was started late 12th C and finished (for the most part) by mid 13th C approximately - in what sense does Clark "miss" the Alhambra which was completed (in its recognizable form) in the mid 14th C?
Clark's Civilization is subtitled "A Personal View" and its obviously a survey of Western culture's art, religion, values, history and personalities. More outside influences would've been interesting but he had only 13 episodes.
jstrange1 1 year ago
Couldn't resist arguing with the suggestion that flying buttresses are beautiful.
They are, IMHO, almost invariably ugly.
tonycatman 1 year ago
@tonycatman I don't know if you've been there yourself, but the cathedral of Chartres is one of the most jaw-dropping things I've ever seen. I went there almost by mistake with my gf at the time, and no one had told me anything about it. When we went past it I was awestruck and forced her to let me visit it. The flying buttresses are not particularly beautiful in themselves, but believe me they don't harm the aesthetics of the building and rather enhance the feeling of almost organic complexity.
distortingjack 10 months ago 2
Kenneth misses out on the Arabic Alhambra in Spain. He also misses the whole Arabic episode in Spain as much the same as what happened from the Roman world to our time.
oker59 2 years ago
@oker59 - He did not "miss out" the Alhambra, etc. Those were not part of what he was detailing. That was done by he and others in another set of programs, most of which were not aired for lack of veiwership.
vinha1006 11 months ago
@oker59 Arabic art is inferior to Western art. Nothing the Arabs ever produced compares to the Riace Bronzes of the Greeks.
ImaginedWriter 10 months ago