Book: The Construction of Gothic Cathedrals: A Study of Medieval Vault Erection (Paperback)
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(Author) "THE PRIMARY STRUCTURAL PROBLEM IN BUILDING IS THAT OF spanning space..." (more)
Key Phrases: clerestory piers, web coursing, cerce device, French Gothic, Middle Ages, Pont du Gard (more...)
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blog.metmuseum.org/penandparchment/2009/07/21/the-secrets-of-architectural-drawings/
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Exhibition Themes
o Introduction
o Early Drawing and the Written Word
o The Achievement of Anglo-Saxon Draftsmen
o Drawing and the Learned Tradition
o Drawings and the Artistic Process
o Exploring the Graphic Aesthetic: Draftsmanship in the Later Middle Ages
o Exhibition Images
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Curatorial Comments
o Exhibition Now Closed
o Beginnings and Endings
o The Scribe as Draftsman
o How Many Museum Employees Does It Take…
o All That Glitters
o “Pen and Parchment” featured on WNYC
o The Secrets of Architectural Drawings
o Medieval Inks
o From Animal to Art: The Story of Parchment
o Elegant Geometry
o Matthew Paris, Master Draftsman
o Mapping the World
o Writing History
o A Medieval Library
o Join the Discussion
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Additional Resources
o Department of Drawings and Prints
o Department of Medieval Art
o Exhibition Catalogue
o Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
o Related Events
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« Medieval Inks
“Pen and Parchment” featured on WNYC »
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
The Secrets of Architectural Drawings
Façade of Strasbourg Cathedral (“Plan A1”)
Above: Façade of Strasbourg Cathedral (“Plan A1”), Strasbourg, France, 1260s, 33 7/8 x 23 1/4 in. (86 x 59 cm), Musée de l’Oeuvre Notre-Dame, Strasbourg, Inv. no. 2.
The so-called Strasbourg Plan A1, seen above, offers an exquisite example of medieval architectural drawings, which are rarely accessible to anyone, including scholars and researchers. It is one of the earliest surviving graphic documents of a monumental structure, authored by an anonymous artist. Although we do not know his name, the artist left us with enough information, in pen and ink, to express his vision for the design of the west façade of Strasbourg cathedral.
It was more than pen and ink that I wished to find when I approached the framed drawing for the first time. It was leaning against the wall, silently, waiting to be hanged. I knelt down and started looking for prick holes—yes, prick holes—those barely discernible marks left by the sharp point of a compass. Prick holes serve two important functions. In an original drawing, they reveal the invisible geometric forms underlying the design: circles, say for a rose window; or arcs, two of which combine to form a pointed arch for a window or doorway. Prick holes penetrating through the entire thickness of the parchment may suggest that at some point the drawing was used as a master for copying, when the sharp point of the compass or a similar instrument needs to reach the parchment below. Key details of the original drawing—for example the apex of a pointed arch, the cusps of a tracery window, or the outline of a doorway—would be pricked through. A précis, or essential summary, of the design would then be transferred onto a sheet of fresh parchment directly underneath, visible with the marks (prick holes) made by the sharp point. These marks would then serve as guides for the artist to complete the copying process. Medieval Xeroxing, one might say. ...(more)
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Ad Quadratum: The Practical Application of Geometry in Medieval Architecture (Avista Studies in the History of Medieval Science, Technology and Art) (Hardcover)
~ Nancy Wu (Editor)
Amazon Editorial Reviews
Product Description
Practical geometry and how it might have been applied in the design of medieval architecture is the subject of this book. The 11 papers by the international team of contributors, together with the introduction by Eric Fernie, present an up-to-date look at the latest scholarship, covering an area from Carolingian Germany and Romanesque Italy to Crusader Cyprus and Gothic France. The applications of geometry and metrology are illustrated with figures largely generated by computer-assisted design (CAD) programs, using new technology to overcome the limitations of earlier analysis of plans. These papers aim to present the current state of thinking on the uses of geometry in medieval architecture. The volume should prove useful to historians of art, history and science of the Middle Ages.
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