medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Wow Chris thank you!
Rosemary
----- Original Message -----
From: "Christopher Crockett" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, December 21, 2011 6:32 PM
Subject: [M-R] Recent discoveries during the restoration of Chartres
Cathedral
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
some here might not be aware that there has been an on-going, quite
extensive
series of restorations going on in the interior of the Cathedral of Chartres
--starting with the stained glass (low & high), then the vaults and walls of
the choir, narthex and (eventually) the nave and ambulatory.
it is my Firm Belief that, when these are all completed, they will totally
transform the whole look and "ambiance" of the building as we have known it
for decades (individually) and, indeed, centuries (collectively).
much of what has been (literally) uncovered during this work has been either
spectacular or unexpected --or both.
here, for example, are some of the bosses of the choir, which have been
found
to have glorious polychromy underneath centuries of heavy plaster and grime:
http://snapageno.free.fr/Churches/Chartres/ChoirKeystones/index.htm
they look like they were painted yesterday (definitely not the day before
yesterday):
http://snapageno.free.fr/Churches/Chartres/ChoirKeystones/_d3c1256.htm
http://snapageno.free.fr/Churches/Chartres/ChoirKeystones/d3c_1012.htm
most recently, my (virtual) friend and favorite photographer (sorry,
Gordon),
Henri de Feraudy, has alerted me --via my little Chartres discussion list--
to
one of the more surprising and intriguing discoveries: frescoes on the
"blind"
tracery occuli on the interior, narthex side of the southwest tower:
http://snapageno.free.fr/Churches/Chartres/NarthexBlindWindows/index.htm
http://snapageno.free.fr/Churches/Chartres/NarthexBlindWindows/04dec2011_img_3510.htm
http://snapageno.free.fr/Churches/Chartres/NarthexBlindWindows
/04dec2011_img_3748center_std.jpg
i'm not sure if the walls and vaults have just been cleaned or whether they
were also "touched" up with some kind of whitewash (for the articulating
members) or "tanwash" (for the ashlar stones).
here's a shot from the scaffolding in the narthex looking East into the
choir,
which gives one a kind of "before and after" idea of the whole project:
http://snapageno.free.fr/Churches/Chartres/NarthexBlindWindows/img_3499_500_501_502_503_504adjust.htm
it is hard for me to imagine what the whole formerly-gloomy barn will look
like when the thing has been totally cleaned and Spiffed Up (to use the
technical term for it).
the primary DownSide, that i can see, is that they may leave those damnéd
lights in the triforium in place, which i find exceptionally obnoxious,
moronic and distracting.
c
p.s. Please keep in mind that all the shots on the
http://snapageno.free.fr/
site are Copyright © Henri Alain de Feraudy.
he is an exceptionally generous person and has no objection to their
non-commercial, educational use, but would, of course, expected to be
contacted for permission to use them for any other purpose.
i will be happy to pass on any communication for that (or any other purpose)
to him.
**********************************************************************
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
**********************************************************************
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
|