medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Are any of these churches fusions of two preexisting buildings? S.
Lorenzo fuori di Mura in Rome is a fusion. It shanks at the join.,
Tom Izbicki
John Briggs wrote:
> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
>
> George R. Hoelzeman wrote:
>>
>> Here's something I was asked this past week to which I
>> have no answer. Actually, I've never even heard it
>> before.
>>
>> Someone mentioned that the choir/apses of most French
>> Romanesque churches are about 30 degrees off axis (or was
>> it 3 degrees?). They were wondering
>> why and mentioned they'd heard the Romantic notion that
>> it had to do with the angle of Christ's head as popularly
>> depicted in crucifixion scenes.
>
> No, that's complete nonsense. It's much more to do with the
> difficulties of setting out the alignment of foundations accurately
> when you are constructing the outer walls of a new building around a
> pre-existing building. The alternative suggestion that choirs were
> laid out to point to (oriented to) the sunrise on the patronal feast
> of the church has more merit, but so far little hard evidence.
>
> John Briggs
>
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