Dear list-members,
resuming the postings concerning dedication of churches I want to bring
to Your view to the ceremonial laying of the foundation-stone. In the
dedication relief of Ulm Münster (end of 14th c.) the kneeling
burgomaster Ludwig Krafft and his wife place a model of the future
church on the shoulders of a workman, who is bending under the weight.
And in two reliefs in the Certosa of Pavia (end of 15th c.) similar
scenes are shown, strained workmen carrying models to the dedication -
could these monuments represent a real ceremony, like a gesture of
bearing the model of the church? For Ulm the account of Elias Fricken
does not mention something like this - what about the Certosa? What do
the compendiums as the Pontificale Romanum and local liturgies say?
Should these scenes be interpreted as mere variations of the traditional
donor's portrait?
Marcus Frings
Darmstadt University of Technology
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