Medieval manuscript diagrams, architectural structures, and their relationships: The case of Chartres Cathedral

Description

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate some of the ways in which diagrammatic structures may have informed the layout and experience of architectural space in the middle ages. The Cathedral of Chartres is a unique case because the post-1194 building and its decorative program survive relatively complete and because the preceding century saw at Chartres the emergence of a sophisticated school of thought, many of whose precepts may be shown to bear upon the design of the monument. The writings of William of Conches and John of Salisbury in particular I consider central to an intellectual debate between Chartrain Masters and their intellectual rivals the Cornificians. The library at Chartres still preserves several manuscript copies of medieval texts and commentaries pertinent to this debate. In turn, I suggest this is fundamental to reading the decorative program of the cathedral and to experiencing its spaces. Thus the monument represents a fusion of disciplines which in turn may serve as an enlightening means of understanding the middle ages in general, its art, its architecture, and its viewer. Using the Cathedral of Chartres as an object of study, an environmental experience, and as a multi-vantage point visual dialogue, this dissertation examines the idea of medieval diagrams as templates for medieval architectural construction and conceptualization. By examining the layout of the medieval stained glass that retains its original position, I claim that the themes of the windows serve as placemarkers for diagramming. The windows are also examined individually as separate entities with their own diagrammatic orderings that suggest that the small scale, as well as the large scale, is organized in a diagrammatic way. Ultimately, I suggest that a diagrammatic structure underlies the layout and design of the windows, based on the ideas of Chartrain master William of Conches. I suggest that this diagrammatic structure forms the basis of a discourse between the Chartrains and their intellectual rivals, the Cornificians. Central to the argument is the disposition of the Signs of the Zodiac in the cathedral and a calendrical layout for the hagiographic windows. TITLE PAGE......Page 1 ABSTRACT......Page 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS......Page 7 LIST OF TABLES......Page 10 LIST OF FIGURES......Page 13 1.0 INTRODUCTION......Page 20 1.1 LITERARY REFERENCES TO DIAGRAMS......Page 32 1.2 THE WORD FIGURA......Page 34 1.3 ENTELECHY AND DIAGRAMMATIC THINKING......Page 36 1.4 PREVIOUS SCHOLARSHIP......Page 46 1.5 CHAPTER SUMMARIES......Page 52 2.0 INTELLECTUAL CONTEXT: THE CHARTRAINS AND THE CORNIFICIANS......Page 54 2.1 THE LIBRARY AT CHARTRES......Page 60 2.1.1 Polarities at Chartres Addressed in Manuscript Collections......Page 61 2.2 THE CHARTRAIN MASTERS......Page 62 2.2.1 The Legacy of the Chartrain Masters......Page 64 2.2.2 Abelard’s Plea for Dialectics......Page 65 2.2.3 The Chartrains’ Perception of the Cornificians......Page 66 2.2.4 Augustine and Boethius......Page 71 2.2.5 Hugo of Folieto’s Diagrams of True and False Religion......Page 72 2.2.6 The Perceiver and the Perceived......Page 76 3.0 CATHEDRAL PLAN AND WINDOWS AS LOCI......Page 82 3.1 ENTELECHY AND MICROCOSM/MACROCOSM......Page 83 3.2.1 The Month of June.......Page 104 3.2.2 The Month of July.......Page 105 3.2.3 The Month of April.......Page 106 3.2.5 The Month of March.......Page 107 3.2.6 The Month of February.......Page 108 3.2.7 The Month of January......Page 109 3.3.2 The Sign of Cancer.......Page 110 3.3.3 The Sign of Gemini, Taurus, and the Month of May.......Page 111 3.3.4 The Sign of Aries.......Page 112 3.3.6 The Sign of Aquarius......Page 113 3.4 NAVE DIAGRAMMING......Page 115 3.5 CONCLUSION......Page 125 4.0 INTELLECTUAL CONTEXT: COLORS AND POSTURES......Page 127 4.1 THE WINDOWS AS CELLAE......Page 142 4.2 TRADES OF MEDITATION......Page 143 4.3 CONCLUSION......Page 147 5.0 WINDOW READING PATTERNS......Page 149 5.1 MARCUS MANILIUS AND THE POSTURES......Page 150 5.2 THE HISTORIOGRAPHY......Page 162 5.3 THE IMPORTANCE OF COLOR......Page 168 5.4 WINDOW DIAGRAMS WITH COLORS AND POSTURES......Page 177 5.5 CONCLUSION......Page 207 6.0 CONCLUSION......Page 208 APPENDIX A......Page 211 APPENDIX B......Page 241 APPENDIX C......Page 261 BIBLIOGRAPHY......Page 309