The Lady Chapel constructed at the wish of Henry VII at Westminster Abbey is the last great masterpiece of English medieval architecture, and the culminating achievement of over three hundred years of development in the gothic style, at the point where it intersects with the new movements of the Renaissance. The burial place of some fifteen kings and queens, it houses both the largest surviving programme of gothic figure sculpture and the earliest and finest Renaissance tomb sculptures in England. This new book covers all the most important aspects of the Chapel's history, from the establishment of the cult of the Virgin in the twelfth century to the restoration of the 1990s, whichprovided an unrepeatable opportunity for close examination of the structure and contents of the building which is the subject of this volume. Contributors: ROGER BOWERS, DONALD BUTTRESS, THOMAS COCKE, MARGARET CONDON,BARBARA HARVEY, JACQUES HEYMAN, PHILLIP LINDLEY, RICHARD MORTIMER, JULIAN MUNBY, JOHN PHYSICK, ANDREW REYNOLDS, TIM TATTON-BROWN, CHARLES TRACY, CHRISTOPHER WILSON. Historians of British Art Book Prize for 2003 RICHARD MORTIMER was formerly Keeper of the Muniments, Westminster Abbey; TIM TATTON-BROWN is Consultant Archaeologist to Westminster Abbey. Table of Contents The monks of Westminster and the old Lady chapel - Barbara F Harvey The musicians and liturgy of the Lady chapels of the monastery church, c.1235-1540 - Roger Bowers God save the king! Piety, propaganda and the perpetual memorial - Margaret Condon The last will of Henry VII: document and text - Margaret Condon The functional design of Henry VII's chapel: a reconstruction - Christopher Wilson The building history of the Lady chapels - Tim Tatton-Brown An archaeological survey of the vaults of Henry VII's chapel - Andrew Reynolds The roofs of Henry VII's chapel - Julian Munby The structure of the high vault of Henry VII's chapel - J Heyman The Henry VII chapel stalls and their eighteenth-century remodelling - Charles Tracy An appendix on the carpentry of the stalls - Julian Munby 'The singuler mediacion and praiers of al the holie companie of Heven': sculptural functions and forms in Henry VII's chapel - Philip G Lindley The royal, the great and the good: the history of the later monuments - John Physick Henry VII chapel: the royal connection - Thomas Cocke The earlier restorations [with Richard Mortimer] - Tim Tatton-Brown The earlier restorations [with Tim Tatton-Brown] - Richard Mortimer Restoring the chapel, 1991-6 - Donald Buttress [A] magnificent, sumptuous volume...it covers all the most important aspects of the Chapel's history, fabric, furnishing and restorations. [...] The editors deserve our warmest thanks for bringing to fruition a volume of such major and lasting importance.--EHR Careful thought and hard study have gone into its making. [...] A solid, informative and valuable specialist volume.--TRANSACTIONS OF THE ANCIENT MONUMENT SOCIETY No one reading this [book] is likely to suggest that its compilation is not fully justified by the range and quality of information assembled.--THE ANTIQUARIES JOURNAL Provides a mass of fascinating information for the specialist.--SIXTEENTH CENTURY JOURNAL The volume contains grippingly intelligent art-historical writing of the highest standard throughout.--BURLINGTON MAGAZINE Dr Charles Tracy is a leading scholar on the history and development of medieval British church furniture. He has published widely in article and book form on British and European monuments, from choir-stalls, screens, pulpits, benches, lecterns and episcopal thrones. When he began, woodwork studies were pretty much in abeyance. Today they are attracting the interest of research students as well as the general public.