Via Lucis Photography and Via Lucis Press are part of a long-term project to document Romanesque and Gothic churches in France and Spain. The projects include the photographs that are represented on this site, a book called "France Romanesque" which will be finished in 2010, and custom art prints. "France Romanesque" is illustrated by these photographs, with text by Dennis Aubrey, edited by Ann Hanson.

The photographs represented here are high-resolution images of Romanesque and Gothic churches in France and Spain. The photographers, Dennis Aubrey and PJ McKey, have created a library...

Via Lucis Photography and Via Lucis Press are part of a long-term project to document Romanesque and Gothic churches in France and Spain. The projects include the photographs that are represented on this site, a book called "France Romanesque" which will be finished in 2010, and custom art prints. "France Romanesque" is illustrated by these photographs, with text by Dennis Aubrey, edited by Ann Hanson.

The photographs represented here are high-resolution images of Romanesque and Gothic churches in France and Spain. The photographers, Dennis Aubrey and PJ McKey, have created a library of more than 2,000 finished images.

Images include the earliest extant Christian structures in France; the Baptistère Saint-Jean in Poitiers (Vienne), the Carolingian oratory in Germingy-des-Prés (Loiret), and the Carolingian church of Saint-Fortunat in Charlieu (Saone-et-Loire). The collection documents this architecture through the High Gothic cathedrals of the 13th and 14th Centuries. While the library includes exteriors, the primary concentration is on interior architecture, especially vaults, domes, and buttressing which define the Romanesque and Gothic styles.

There is also a section of a sculptural specialty, the Vierges Romanes (Romanesque Virgins). These are 11-13th century stylized wooden statues of the Madonna and Child, usually polychrome but sometimes covered in plate and jewels. More formally, they are known as Sedes Sapientiae, the Throne of Wisdom. A subset of these are the Black Madonnas, which are particularly venerated in Spain and France.

The images represented on this site are just a fraction of the total number of high-resolution digital images in the Via Lucis library. If you have more specific requirements, please contact us with your request.