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Reliquary staue of Sainte-Foy
(Saint Faith)
Pilgrims arriving in Conques had one thing on their mind: the reliquary of Saint Foy. This reliquary, or container holding the remains of a saint or holy person, was one of the most famous in all of Europe. So famous that it was originally located in a monastery in Agen but the monks at Conques plotted to steal it in order to attract more wealth and visitors. The reliquary at Conques held the remains of Saint Foy, a young Christian convert living in Roman-occupied France during the second century. At the age of twelve, she was condemned to die for her refusal to sacrifice to pagan gods, she is therefore revered as a martyr, as someone who dies for their faith. Saint Foy was a very popular saint in Southern France and her relic was extremely important to the church; bringing pilgrims and wealth to the small, isolated town of Conques.
Relic: an object esteemed and venerated because of association with a saint or martyr
This statue is considered a relic |
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Basilica of Santa Sabina
.c.432 CE Rome. Plan
Basilicas—a type of building used by the ancient Romans for diverse functions including as a site for law courts—is the category of building that Constantine’s architects adapted to serve as the basis for the new churches. The original Constantinian buildings are now known only in plan, but an examination of a still extant early fifth century Roman basilica, the Church of Santa Sabina, helps us to understand the essential characteristics of the early Christian basilica.
Roman basilica: A basilica is a covered, rectangular building characterized by a large amount of interior space. Often, basilicas incorporate other architectural elements such as apses, naves, clerestory openings, and vaulted side aisles and niches. |
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The Basilica of Saint Sabina exterior (Latin: Basilica Sanctae Sabinae, Italian: Basilica di Santa Sabina all'Aventino) is a historic church on the Aventine Hill in Rome, Italy. It is a titular minor basilica and mother church of the Roman Catholic Order of Preachers, better known as the Dominicans.
Santa Sabina is the oldest extant ecclesiastical basilica in Rome that preserves its original colonnaded rectangular plan with apse and architectural style. Its decorations have been restored to their original restrained design. Other basilicas, such as Santa Maria Maggiore, have been ornately decorated in later centuries. Because of its simplicity, the Santa Sabina represents the adaptation of the architecture of the roofed Roman forum or basilica to the basilica churches of Christendom. It is especially well-known for its cypress wood doors carved in AD 430-432 with Biblical scenes, the most famous being the first known publicly displayed depiction of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and the two thieves.
Santa Sabina is perched high above the Tiber to the north and the Circus Maximus to the east. It is next to the small public park of Giardino degli Aranci ("Garden of Oranges"), which has a scenic terrace overlooking Rome. It is a short distance from the headquarters of the Knights of Malta.
Its cardinal priest is Jozef Tomko. It is the stational church for Ash Wednesday. |
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Interior os basilica of saint sabrina Basilicas—a type of building used by the ancient Romans for diverse functions including as a site for law courts—is the category of building that Constantine’s architects adapted to serve as the basis for the new churches. The original Constantinian buildings are now known only in plan, but an examination of a still extant early fifth century Roman basilica, the Church of Santa Sabina, helps us to understand the essential characteristics of the early Christian basilica.
Litergy:
A prescribed form or set of forms for public religious worship.
The sacrament of the Eucharist. |
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Reconstruction of Santiago de Compostela in the 12th century.
part of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Santiago de Compostela and is an integral component of the Santiago de Compostela World Heritage Site in Galicia, Spain. The cathedral is the reputed burial place of Saint James the Great, one of the apostles of Jesus Christ. It is also among the remaining churches in the world built over the tomb of an apostle, the other ones being St Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, St Thomas Cathedral Basilica, Chennai in India and Basilica of St. John in Izmir, Turkey.
The archcathedral basilica has historically been a place of pilgrimage on the Way of St James since the Early Middle Ages and marks the traditional end of the pilgrimage route. The building is a Romanesque structure, with later Gothic and Baroque additions.
The Santiago de Compostela Cathedral is one of the most important religious structures in the whole of Spain, particularly because it marks the end of the 790 kilometres (490 miles) that make up the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route. Located in the region of Galicia, in the northwest of Spain, it is a key attraction much-visited by tourists and locals alike.
Construction of the Santiago de Compostela Cathedral began in 1075, during the reign of Alfonso VI. It was built under the direction of Bishop Diego Peláez, on the site of an old church dedicated to Saint Santiago, or St James as he is known in English.
Work on the cathedral stopped after the initial stages and didn’t continue until 1100, when architect Master Esteban created three naves in the shape of a Latin cross. Construction carried on throughout the 12th century, and many extensions were added over the years in various architectural styles, including Romanesque, Gothic, Baroque, Plateresque and Neoclassical.
The Santiago de Compostela Cathedral of course marks the end of the Camino de Santiago, the pilgrimage route which covers some 790 km (490 miles) all the way from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port in France across the top of Spain. Because of this, the cathedral has become a place of great significance for many, whatever their reason for walking the route, and is a very poignant spot.
monasticism:
The monastic life or system, especially as practiced in a monastery.
The corporate life of religious communities under the vows of poverty, celibacy, and obedience to a superior; the monastic system or condition. |
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Arm Reliquary of Saint Pantaleon
This silver arm is known as a "speaking" reliquary because it takes shape of the body part it once contained. The reliquary reputedly held an arm bone of Saint Pantaleon, a "Holy Doctor" martyred in Asia Minor (AD 305) who later became the patron saint of physicians. The remains of an inscription along the seam of the sleeve refer to the saint by name. The small door with the two glass shields was added in the 15th century, as was the crystal at the edge of the sleeve.
Reliquary: late 13th century; Additions: 15th century (Medieval)
silver, gilded silver, rock crystal, semiprecious stones, glass, niello
(Gold, Silver & Jewelry)
Salvation:
Preservation or deliverance from destruction, difficulty, or evil.
A source, means, or cause of such preservation or deliverance.
Deliverance from the power or penalty of sin; redemption. |
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the Cathedral of Saint Lazare is a Romanesque church that holds the bones of St. Lazarus. This cathedral has a stone portal on the west side with a tympanum depicting the Last Judgement. The round, semi-circular tympanum (on the west portal) is 640 cm wide, supported by a 76.5 cm tall lintel, which is held up by a trumeau that is currently not the original sculpture, but a modern reconstruction (Grivot 26). It was previously believed that the sculptor of the original work was Gislebertus, but now scholars believe he may have been the director or patron of the art (Marilyn 211).
The tympanum is a relief sculpture with elongated figures. Most of the figures are sculpted in high relief or in the round, as the tympanum is made from 29 pieces of stone, with an average projection of 25 cm (Grivot 25). There is little concern with the proportions of the body, especially with the central figure, which we know to be the most important figure due to its size and central location. Lines carved into the stone show repeating folds of drapery and great attention to detail. By elongating the figures, the sculptor creates the illusion of less relief, making the work appear more two-dimensional. Some figures’ bodies (specifically those in the right of the lintel) have more acute angles at their joints, making them look visually uncomfortable (Zucker). Other figures (like those in the left of the lintel) have more obtuse angles, making them appear to be in a more comfortable position.
A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. |
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Diagram of buttresses
What is buttress structure?
A buttress is a structure built against another structure in order to strengthen or support it. Historically, they have been used to strengthen large walls or buildings such as churches, but they continue to be used in large modern structures such as retaining walls and dams.
medievalism:
medieval quality, character, or state. 2 : devotion to the institutions, arts, and practices of the Middle Ages. |
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Abbot Suger Ambulatory 1140 - 44 Basilica of St. Denis Paris
Suger began with the West front, reconstructing the original Carolingian façade with its single door. He designed the façade of Saint-Denis to be an echo of the Roman Arch of Constantine with its three-part division and three large portals to ease the problem of congestion.
Astoundingly, in three years and three months, Suger and his master masons achieved a remarkable feat: the complete remodeling of the east end of Saint-Denis. Their inspiration and objectives were height and light.
Denis, built by Abbot Suger and completed in 1144, is often cited as the first truly Gothic building, as it draws together many of architectural forms which had evolved from Romanesque and typify the Gothic style.
mosaics: a picture or pattern produced by arranging together small colored pieces of hard material, such as stone, tile, or glass. |
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Cathedral of Notre Dame de Chartres.
France. c.1145 and 1194
c.1220. Right portal tympanum with Seat of Wisdom, The Presentation, The Nativity, etc.
Built as one of the last parts of the Romanesque Church of Chartres, the west portals, or so-called Royal Portals, are one of the few surviving parts of the earlier church incorporated into the High Gothic Church constructed after the devastating fire of 1194. These portals are the major monument of Early Gothic sculpture. They are clearly based on the now fragmentary portals of St. Denis.
The different fields of sculptural decoration, including the tympanum, archivolts, lintel, and jamb figures, are clearly derived from comparable forms in Romaneque portal sculpture. Compare for example the Royal Portals to the portal from Moissac:
The lintels of the Royal Portals represent episodes from the infancy story of Christ beginning on the lower left with the Annunciation followed by the Visitation, the Nativity, and the Annunciation to the Shepherds. The upper lintel focuses on the story of Christ's Presentation in the Temple. The tympanum is dedicated to an image popular in Romanesque art, the Sedes Sapientiae or Throne of Wisdom:
gospels:
the teaching or revelation of Christ. |
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Reliquary Bust of a Female Saint
ca. 1520–30
South Netherlandish
Bust reliquaries for the skulls of saints were placed on or near altars and, by the late Middle Ages, often assembled in large numbers in church sanctuaries. The small glazed medallion resembling jewelry once displayed additional relics. On particular feast days, such reliquaries were carried in processions.
catacombs:
an underground cemetery consisting of a subterranean gallery with recesses for tombs, as constructed by the ancient Romans. |
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Cathedral of Notre Dame de Chartres Buttresses
Buttresses support the the weight of roof and walls, preventing the walls from collapsing outwards under the weight. With the walls no longer being the only load-bearing part of the cathedral's structure, vast openings could be made and filled with stained glass.
Here, abelard focuses on the exterior buttressing. The buttressing marches along each side of the nave, and reach like arched fingers, providing support around the apse.
To ensure the entrance of daylight and the visibility of the windows, the buttresses were built so they would minimise shading or obscuring the windows. The buttressing of Chartres cathedral is an example demonstration of this technique.
side buttressing
Just below are photographs of the cathedral's south side. The face-on picture below left]shows how the buttresses are placed between the windows rather than across them, while the side view [below right]shows how the buttresses bulk is reduced to minimise shadows and to allow more light to enter through the windows.
The letters A, B, C, D match the same buttresses on the face-on and side views.
There are statues in niches on the end of each buttress.
A full cross-section of the side buttressing for the north side is shown in the line drawing to the right.
Notice that the buttressing is not the same as that on the south side.
On the north side, the pillars are columns with Tuscan capitals, but there are no cut-outs
Monumental architecture: embraces large. houses, public buildings, and special purpose structures. Its principal defining feature is. that its scale and elaboration exceed the requirements of any practical functions that a. building is intended to perform. |
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Amiens Cathedral
Amiens France begun 1220. Interior.
Amiens Cathedral, in the heart of Picardy, is one of the largest 'classic' Gothic churches of the 13th century. It is notable for the coherence of its plan, the beauty of its three-tier interior elevation and the particularly fine display of sculptures on the principal facade and in the south transept
Amiens Cathedral was commissioned by Bishop Evrard de Fouilloy to replace a smaller church that had burned down in 1218.
It is an archetypical Gothic cathedral. Who was Robert de Luzarches? He simplified, clarified, and unified the plan of Amiens Cathedral.
The oxen were particularly important in the construction of Laon Cathedral, moving the all stones to the top of a steep hill. They were honoured for their work by statues of sixteen oxen placed on the towers of the cathedral.
Above these statues are statues of John the Baptist, The Virgin Mary, and Saint Firmin.
historiography
the study of historical writing.
the writing of history. |
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Amiens Cathedral,Amiens, France
begun 1220. Vaulting.
The vault in Amiens cathedral's transept is one of the most important ones in European Gothic style. It is a square plan vault with five keystones built with a crossover and tierceron arches. Presumably it was finished by 1230 under the direction of Renaud Cormont, architect. |
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| This window, with a diameter of 10.15 metres, dates to c. 1231 CE and has the theme of the Old Testament prophecies being fulfilled with Mary as their instrument, hence the central panel depicts Jesus Christ as a child with Mary. This centrepiece is encircled by 12 elliptical panels showing four doves and eight angels. Then a circle of 12 diamond-shaped panels depict the 12 kings of Judah, Christ's ancestors. The outer ring of semi-circular panels shows the 12 minor prophets. Between the squares and semi-circles are quatrefoil panels with fleurs-de-lis, the French royal coat of arms and reminding that the window was donated by Queen Blanche of Castille, the mother of King Louis IX (r. 1226-1270 CE) and his regent from 1226 to 1236 CE. The panels between the rose and lancet windows below repeat the fleur-de-lis theme and add the arms of Castille, a yellow castle on a red background. |
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