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| The Earth, the Temple, and the Gods : Greek Sacred Architecture
ISBN: 9781595341778
Platform/Publisher: Ebook Central / Trinity University Press
Digital rights: Users: Unlimited; Printing: Limited; Download: 7 Days at a Time
Subjects: Architecture;
When The Earth, the Temple, and the Gods first appeared in 1962, it was hailed by the critics for it erudition, historical imagination and boldness. Subsequently, this comprehensive study of Greek temples and site-planning has been widely accepted as a landmark of architectural history, for it offers an inspired and arresting insight into nature and function of Greek sacred architecture. Vincent Scully, one of America's most brilliant and articulate scholars, understands the temples as physical embodiment of the gods in landscapes that had for the Greeks divine attributes and sacred connotations. He explores the meanings inherent in the calculated interaction between man-made sculptural forces and the natural landscape, and he relates this interaction to our understanding of Greek culture from the pre-Greek Aegean to the Hellenistic period.
Years of research and travel were devoted to The Earth, the Temple, and the Gods. Scores of sites were restudied on the spot, including many lesser-known sanctuaries throughout the Hellenic world. The study includes reconstruction drawings, plans, and maps along with its richly illustrated, detailed discussions of major sites.
Vincent Joseph Scully Jr. was born in New Haven, Connecticut on August 21, 1920. He received a bachelor's degree in English from Yale University. During World War II, he served in the Marine Corps. He received a Ph.D. in art history from Yale University in 1949. His thesis, The Shingle Style: Architectural Theory and Design from Richardson to the Origins of Wright, was published as a book in 1955. He taught at Yale from 1947 until 2009. He wrote several books during his lifetime including American Architecture and Urbanism; The Earth, the Temple, and the Gods: Greek Sacred Architecture; Pueblo: Mountain, Village, Dance; Architecture: The Natural and the Manmade; and Yale in New Haven: Architecture and Urbanism. He received the National Medal of Arts in 2004. He died from complications of Parkinson's disease on November 30, 2017 at the age of 97. (Bowker Author Biography) |
