Pugin greatly admired the work of Savonarola, perhaps because the famous Inquisitor sought out and corrected the encroachment of wrongful thoughts within faith while Pugin felt a compulsion to do the same for architecture. Pugin longed for the day when Anglicanism would return to the Roman Church, and his architectural work and writings reflected his increasing desire for orthodoxy and the powerful and beautiful place of worship. Powell (research fellow, Harris Manchester College, Oxford) casts her architect's eye upon the stones Pugin thereby had assembled and his literary works designed to re-establish architecture as an act of liturgy, a place created by man to reflect God's revelation. She closely analyzes Pugin's treatises and books, explaining how they fit within his life and his thought, shows how his themes grew and developed and how they were received by his peers, and offers an impressive bibliography. Annotation ©2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
