medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Dear Rochelle,
On Wednesday, January 5, 2005, at 10:26 am, you wrote:
> If you prefer, I'll qualify the statement. "In Syriac iconography, the
> evidence that the triple arch
> symbolizes the Synoptic Gospels is rather strong." In Roman
> iconography,the form of the
> triple diptych seems to symbolize the trinity -- as does the tri-
> lobed arch.
>
> Which is why, John, calling it a tri-lobed arch in a Jewish or Moslem
> setting is a bit difficult --
> even though the number of Mosques with windows set in triads is quite
> noticeable. I presume
> the triads of the stylized pointed cloud arches in Arabic architecture
> has a symbolic meaning,
> but I have no idea what it would be. Besides, the example I was asking
> about doesn't have
> three lobes...
With regard to the difficulty, and supposing for a moment that we're
talking about an object in which lobes are visible rather than merely
inferred, you could be hamstringing yourself here. "Tri-lobed" does not
ineluctably convey Christian associations: a google search for
"trilobata" or "trilobatum" will bring up the Linnean names of not a few
plants and animals whose nomenclature (at least the "trilob- " part) is
visually descriptive and seemingly quite free of the sort of cultural
burden you wish to avoid.
[Similarly with "basilica": if the Greek origin of the term is an
impediment, then I suppose one would also have to find substitutes for
"basil" (the herb) and "basilisk" (the type of reptile) in a Jewish or
Muslim setting.]
With regard to the visible form of the object, calling it trilobed is
certainly inaccurate. In my early matutinal fog I got led astray by
trilobed windows and other possible analogues.
Finally, just in case I have not yet been quite clear on this, my intent
in bringing up a certain type of basilica was not to offer "basilical"
as a descriptive term here (after all, many basilicas are not formed in
exactly this way) but rather to suggest that the literature on some of
these might offer technical descriptions that could be helpful in the
matter at hand. Not all exedras (to use a classicist's term for curved
projections similar to an apse of a Christian church) are formed in the
same way, so it is just possible that technical descriptions of the
Constantinian basilica at Trier or Santa Sabina in Rome or other such
basilicas might characterize the curve in a way you could find useful.
Best again,
John Dillon
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