medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
From: jbugslag <[log in to unmask]>
> Point taken, Christopher, but why, for instance, would the interior of
Chartres Cathedral be similarly painted in faux ashlar, when there is some
pretty darn nice quarry stone and stone cutting evident?
and the whole danged thing is made of (quite beautifully cut) ashlar.
i submit four reasons (mix & match, as you prefer):
1) to give the place a "finished" look --the middlevils evidently did not
share our modren sensibility for the Minimal (except, perhaps for the
Cistercians, but even theirs might well have recieved the Faux Ashlar
Treatment);
B) to lighten up the walls & ceilings (although i haven't seen it since the
latest "restoration" of all of the windows which, if the example of the West
Lancets is typical, would mean that the place is now *much* lighter than it
has been since about 1250);
iii) because "normal" figurative frescos would be both difficult to see given
the low light level and would distract from the Glory of the Glass;
d) for Ideological Reasons (not only is the Temple/Heavenly Jerusalem made of
"squared stones," but it's *painted* with them as well, just to be sure that
the message is Clear.
as far as (B) is concerned, the color of that "Bercheres" stone (so named for
the village from which it comes, a few miles from the city) can be quite
marvelously varied:
freshly cut, it will be white --as is the exterior of the cathedral on a
brilliant summer's day;
when worn or polished --like we can see on pavement or the bases of the great
piers of the nave, where the derrières of countless pilgrims have patiently
polished it-- it takes on a lovely, dark cream color and really looks like a
very porous marble;
on a bright afternoon in late autumn or winter, when the sun is very low in
the sky and bathes everything in red, it will take on a definitely pinkish
rouge hue;
on some rainy, soggy, cold mornings in winter i've seen it manifest itself as
a really magnificent, earthy brownish green (or greenish brown, depending upon
the Eye of the Beholder).
in short, that building is made out of "Living Stones."
but, my memory of the color of the interior walls is that they are a rather
inert grey.
c
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