medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
From: "Kleinbauer, W. Eugene" <[log in to unmask]>
> The 4th century church of S. Lorenzo in Milan had four corner towers
integrated into the fabric of the structure; one of the 4 towers still
preserves its original masonry for over 22 meters: see W. Eugene Kleinbauer,
"Aedita in turribus: The Superstructure of the Early Christian Church of San
Lorenzo in Milan," GESTA, vol. 15, no. ½ (1976).
pp. 1-9.
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
(i can send a copy to anyone who needs one and is not a subscriber)
>The function of these towers remains a puzzle.
http://wiki-images.enotes.com/3/33/Milano_Lorenzomaggiore.01.JPG
>Since the church was built outside the city walls, they may have served as
watchtowers. A strikingly similar exterior configuration marked the north
cathedral of the double cathedral at Trier, as rebuilt ca. 370-380 by the
emperor Gratian,
?
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3447/3935983257_876f147550_z.jpg
(the best i could find, in a quick search)
>illustrated in my article in Gesta. The idea for such towers seems to have
come from Gallo-Roman villa designs.
something like this?
http://www.roscheiderhof.de/kulturdb/client/einObjekt.php?id=1174
?
Gesta, p. 4:
"As already noted, the towers were integral components of the original edifice
and from the outset were identical in size and structure. The systematic
design of these towers indicates that their function was structural rather
than aesthetic or even symbolic....the form of the corner towers identifies
their structural function as massive pier buttresses that absorbed the thrusts
of the original central covering of the building [i.e., a huge groin vault,
~24m. on a side]. Their form discloses that the concentrated load they
received radiated along diagonal lines toward them and hence was directed to
four cardinal points."
>An excellent survey of the literary and archaeological history of towers in
church buildings in early medieval Europe can be found in the excellent
monograph by George H. Forsyth, The Church of St. Martin at Angers (Princeton,
1953).
apparently not available on-line anywhere, that i can find.
i am curious, Gene, about a word in the passage which you quote by the
chronicler Arnulphus (d. 1077):
Relatu difficile videatur, quae fuerint lignorum lapidumque sculpturae
eorumque altrinsecus compaginatae iuncturae, quae suis columpnae cum
hasibus, trihunalia (the exedrae) quoque per gyrum, ac desuper' tegens
universa musyum.
is your reading of "sculpturae" here the *mosiac decoration* on the "Early
Christian vault in masonry" which you mention a bit later?
could it have referred to low relief stucco sculptures rather than mosaics?
like those chance survivals we have in the slightly later "Neonian" baptistry
in Ravenna
http://c720450.r50.cf2.rackcdn.com/ravenna-neonian-baptistery-080510105457.jpg
http://www.duke.edu/web/art/newsbyte/Image649.jpg
http://c720450.r50.cf2.rackcdn.com/ravenna-neonian-baptistery-080510110404.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/oar/3059233642/
http://c720450.r50.cf2.rackcdn.com/ravenna-neonian-baptistery-080510105501.jpg
http://www.sacred-destinations.com/italy/ravenna-battistero-neoniano-photos/slides/xti_7045p.jpg
http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1396/1217412390_c2499723e3_m.jpg
or is "sculpturae" commonly found in texts of this period in which it clearly
refers to mosaics?
c
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