medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
>...I am looking for references to the use of tapestries and banners in
churches. I have a hypothesis that they were a common method of
controlling reverberence. It seems to be common knowledge that tapestries
were a standard part of church furnishing; but I can't find reference to the
specific locations that tapestries might have been hung. I am especially
interested in their use in the Gothic cathedral-style
buildings which have large acoustic ambiance.
i have seen (somewhen) 18th c. engravings of the choirs of the cathedrals of
Reims and (perhaps) Paris hung with great tapestries, suspended from the floor
of the triforium, covering virtually all of the main arcade above the jubé.
i've always supposed (on no evidence whatever) that this was done for
aesthetic rather than accoustical reasons --the 18th c. was not generally
responsive to Gothic sensibilities (cf. the sterile s18th c. "modern" plaster
veneer which was added to the inner surface of the choir at Chartres), and
huge expanses of textile wallpaper was a quick and easy modernizing visual
fix. which may, also, have had some secondary accoustical effect.
but, i seriously doubt that such large acreages of textile were used --or even
available-- in the early-mid 13th c., when the great "cathedrals" were built,
and i'm certainly not aware of any surviving (in actuality or in
illustrations) examples, before, say, the Unicorn tapestries of the 15th c.;
and even ones of that size would be too small to have much of an effect on the
accoustics of an immense space like that of a full-size cathedral.
i've heard that the Bayeaux "tapestry" (late 11th c.) was, at some time, hung
in the choir of the cathedral there; but the theory that its
intended original site was perhaps the Bishop's _aula_ makes more sense
to me. over 100 feet long, but not more than a yard tall, it would not have
had any appreciable accoustic effect in the former space, i would think, and
would have been totally illegible, even in its broadest
themes, much less in its marvelous details.
wouldn't the (need for the) manipulation of the accoustical properties of a
building depend upon the sort of noise one would wish to make in there?
the great organs of the 16th and subsequent centuries *could* certainly have
created a desire for "controlling reverberance," but the diapasons
of the early 13th would not have had such an effect, being much closer to
the human scale of the chant.
there must be quite a vast musicological literature on the "Paris school" of
the 14th-15th cc., when all these matters were in such transition on
so many levels; perhaps there is some discussion of the subject to be found
there.
otOh, we can certainly assume that the accoustical properties of medieval
ecclesiastical buildings were of great importance: the lovely shapes of the
spaces between the chanted notes to be experienced in the benedictine abbey of
Fleury (late 11th-early 12th c.) obviously didn't get there by accident.
nor did the quite astonishing resonating --not echoing-- qualities of the
choir chapels of the abbey of Pontigny (last quarter of the 12th c.), which is
the most accoustically marvelous building i've ever been in.
as well as being the most perfectly laid out and executed --not a coincidence
of features, i would think.
interesting question.
though, as you've stated it re the original usage of the space, perhaps more
of an Algore: close, but no cigar.
best to all from here,
christopher
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