Visions of Heaven: The Dome in European Architecture

About this book

Theres an ethereal magic to standing beneath a dome neck craned looking up at a vision of the heavens created by some long-ago figure of genius. From the Pantheon to the Hagia Sophia the power of the dome seems transcendent. Photographer David Stephensons magnificently kaleidoscopic images of dome interiors capture this evanescent drama and make Visions of Heaven one of the most spectacularly beautiful books weve ever produced. Traveling from Italy to Spain Turkey England Germany and Russia among other countries and photographing churches palaces mosques and synagogues from the second to the early twentieth century Stephensons work amounts to a veritable typology of the cupola. His images present complex geometrical structures rich stucco decorations and elaborate paintings as they have never been seen before. Brilliantly calibrated exposures reveal details and colors that would otherwise remain hidden in these dimly lit spaces. Visions of Heaven shows more than 120 images including the Roman Pantheon the Byzantine churches of Turkey the great domes of the Renaissance the decorative cupolas of the Baroque and the Rococo ages and a nineteenth-century synagogue in Hungary.