medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
> >From: Theresa Gross-Diaz <[log in to unmask]>
>Thanks for the link to the church at Trani. The last site indicates that the
double columns in the nave are unique in Puglia. I know of such double
columns in many a cloister arcade; but what other naves are graced with such a
support system? In Italy or elsewhere?
From: Marjorie Greene <[log in to unmask]>
> Saint-Hilaire in Poitiers comes close:
> http://www.art-roman.net/poitierssh/poitierssh.htm
mmmm.... no, that's what we call in Art Hystery an AlGore:
"Close but No Cigar".
what we have a Poitiers
http://www.art-roman.net/poitierssh/poitierssh7x.jpg
http://www.art-roman.net/poitierssh/poitierssh8x.jpg
http://www.art-roman.net/poitierssh/poitierssh1x.jpg
http://www.diocese-poitiers.com.fr/patrimoine/images/poitiers-sthilaire1.jpg
is a sort of side aisle --albeit an unusually narrow one and one with an
unusual "elevation", almost a kind of interior "flying butress"-- between the
nave and the true side aisles (i can't seem to find a plan of the church on
the web).
it looks like the mid-11th c. builder here was rather unsure that he could
safely attain the great height he wanted without effectively strengthing his
nave arcade by doubling it laterally with this narrow side aisle (this can be
seen as either timid incompetence or bold experimentation, depending upon
one's point of view, i suppose).
the piers of the main arcade of the nave itself are not "double columns" but
are "compound piers", cruciform in plan (and rather common in High Romanesque
buildings), each element of which is expressing from the gound up a
relationship to its function as a support for an arch above, whether an arch
of the main arcade, or a transverse arch over the nave, or one over that
little side aisle.
that's not at all what's going on at Trani.
http://www.mondimedievali.net/Edifici/Puglia/tran16.jpg
http://www.mondimedievali.net/Edifici/Puglia/tran17.jpg
http://www.trani.org/trani/turismo/itinerari/immaginidatabase/dcp_0529.jpg
here we've got a pretty straightforward nave with flanking side aisles, the
main arcade of the nave being made up of "double columns" which are,
as Theresa points out, strongly reminiscent of the relatively common double
(or "twin") columns which we see in a great many cloister arcades.
this particular articulation is not shown on the plan
http://www.mondimedievali.net/Edifici/Puglia/tran10.jpg
but it is clear that the double columns are confined within the thickness of
the wall of the main arcade.
double columns in the main arcade of a nave are not common, but certainly not
unknown.
offhand, i can't think of another "romanesque" example (not my field), but if
we consider "gothic" architecture to be simply a regional "romanesque" school,
we've got this early example from the cathedral of Sens
http://www.beloit.edu/~arthist/historyofart/gothic/images/sens6.jpg
look closely at that plan and you can see that double columns alternate in the
main arcade throughout the building --nave, choir and amblulatory-- with more
complex, compound piers.
you can just see one of these double columns on the left, here
http://www.beloit.edu/~arthist/historyofart/gothic/images/sens4.jpg
and in the last bay of the nave before the north transept here
http://www.beloit.edu/~arthist/historyofart/gothic/images/sens5.jpg
this very elegant articulation of the nave elevation looks like this, seen
straight on
http://www.beloit.edu/~arthist/historyofart/gothic/images/sens7.jpg
note that the "weak-strong" alternation is articulated all the way up from the
pavement to the springing of the vaults and, indeed, into the vaults
themselves, since they are "sexpartite", rather than "quadripartite".
again, look closely at the plan
http://www.beloit.edu/~arthist/historyofart/gothic/images/sens6.jpg
the compound piers of the arcade cary the heavier, main transverse arches
across the nave as well as the major transverse ribs which go diagonally
across the nave to the corresponding pier on the other side ; while the
lighter double columns of the arcade simply "carry" a transverse rib to the
center of the vault.
(more shots of Sens here:
http://www.beloit.edu/~arthist/historyofart/gothic/sens.htm )
ahhh, John James has a nice shot of a nave bay, with the "double column" motif
picked up in a room off the side aisle
http://www.johnjames.com.au/gpa-sensc/large/f.jpg
it turns out that there was a fellow whom the chronicler Gervais of Canterbury
calls "William of Sens" who came to Gervais' town in 1174 to supervise the
reconstruction of the cathedral after a disasterous fire.
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15638b.htm
a few years into the new project he fell off his scaffold, was seriously
injured and went home to die.
the plan of Canterbury cathedral is a bit.... complex
http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~hanly/chaucer/images/canterburyplan1a.html
but it's available on a Tea Towel
http://www.cathedralshop.co.uk/CanterburyCathedralShop/Productdetails.aspx?productID=1577
so there's that.
i *think* that we find double columns in the main arcade of the choir of
Canterbury, but i'll be jiggered if i can find a single pic of them on the
web.
but, we even see double columns in the crypt
http://www.request.org.uk/main/churches/tours/canterbury/crypt.htm
this may not be the work of William of Sens, however (i really don't know
anything about Canterbury at all), but it makes a nice story.
i'm sure there are other examples of double columns in a main arcade, but it's
been a few decades since my survey introduction to gothic architecture...
there is, perhaps, an "echo" of this double column business to be found in the
main arcade piers of the choir of Soissons cathedral
http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intdept/pnp/images/cath1-40.jpg
where we see the main columns have a smaller "en delit" collonette attached to
them.
the same sort of thing might have been going on in the choir of the
near-contemporary cathedral of Chartres as well, but there is a breathtakingly
ugly 18th c. neo-classical marble "veneer" which hides the original stonework
from our view at Chartres.
best from here,
christopher
**********************************************************************
To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME
to: [log in to unmask]
To send a message to the list, address it to:
[log in to unmask]
To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion
to: [log in to unmask]
In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to:
[log in to unmask]
For further information, visit our web site:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html
|