Praxiteles
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The following pictures show a number of portals with red doors. This is a clue to the ancient use of church portals throughout western Europe and provides the wider context in which portals such as Moissac, Charlieu, and those of the great Cathedrals should be seen. While the portal obviously provides access and egress from the church, its more important social function was that of a locus for the administration of both ecclesiastical and civil justice. Basically, these great portals were the courts of justice and were designated as such by the painiting of their doors in red. The colour was especially connected with royal justice. Also, the portals of the churches served as places in which oaths were administered, contracts perfected and all sorts of other legal acts, such as the swearing of fealty, took place. Marriage was formally contracted in the portico of the church before the bride and groom were lead into the church. Weights and measures were publicly promulgated and exhibited in the church porticos. This function had an influence on the plastic decoration of the portals and on the choice of theme to be depicted. Usually, the dominant tympan will depict Christ in his Divine Majesty, source of all justice. The Last Judgment is a later theme focusing on the rewads of good and evil. In the porico itself, it was not unusual to find figures such as Solomon, the Old Testament exemplification of Justice or St. John the Baptist. In the north Italian Romanesque, as at Piacenza, lions are characteristically found supporting the columns of the portico. Here again is a reference to Solomon -whose throne was held up by lions. Indeed, in many medieval contracts and legal documents it is not infrequent to find that such were done “ad portas”, “ante portam”, “in gallilea”, “in atrio”. In northern Italy the expression “inter duos leones” frequently occurs. As at Moissac, the prophet Isaiah features in medieval church porticos alluding to his prophacy of the eschatological kingdom of peace, justice and righteousness. In the case of Cobh, the tympan is directly influenced by the Royal Portal at Chartres while the figures in the portico depict St. John the Baptist, another precursor of the eschatological kingdom of peace and justice but the iconographic composition fails somewhat by the introduction of the figure of St. Joseph, unless he is seen as the biblical faithful stewart placed over the household. In conservation terms, even elements such as the colours of paint on doors can have an important significance. Unfortunately, at Moissac the door colour has vanished since the time of the French Revolution and has not been recovered.
The Abbatiale de St. Gilles-du-Gard dating from the second quarter of the twelfth century which, after almost a thousand years conservs its tradition of painting the abbey doors red :
Paroissiale de St Armel in Ploermel, Brittany, depicting the the triumph of virtue over vice.
Chapelle de Notre Dame de Kernascléden, Brittany: portail:
Le Faouet, Brittany, Chapelle de St. Fiacre (an Irish man) west portail:
Le Faouet, Brittany, Chapelle de Sainte Barbre, west portail:
Le Guerno, Brittany, Paroissiale de Notre Dame:
The Portico of the Cathedral of Piacenza, built last half of the twelfth cenntury and in the first half of the thirteenth, supported by the pair of lions so characteristic of the Lombard Romanesque:
The problem with some of the modern schools is not so much that they do not give us nice gothic frills or that they are not liturgically correct, but because they are unable to articulate realities which for them, by definition, do not exist, or are too inhumane to be able to empathise with man or his condition. Rudolf Schwarz, while producing technically perfect peices, exhibits nothing of the “humanitas” of the portal of Charlieu and, as such, cannot be considered as a congruent mise-en-scene for the liturgical “commemoration” of Christ’s greatest act of “humanitas”.
The link below shows the Cluniac prototype for the tympanum depicting Christ enthroned in Glory, in the Priory of Charlieu dating from 1099:
The image below shows C.W. Harrison’s variation of it on the Wstern tympanum in Cobh, executed in 1898:
The western Portail of the Prieuré de Saint Fortunat, Charlieu, built about 1090 is the first example in Burgundy of a tympanum depicting the artistic type of Christ seated in glory, surrounded by an aureole supported by two angels.
This form of depicting Christ antecedes tympana depicting the Last Judgment and is historically associated with the Cluniac reform (see attached image at the end).
The priory, although founded around 875, became dependant on the abbey of Cluny around 930 and was assigned the rank of priory in 1040. In the mid eleventh century, a new priory church was built by the Abbot, St. Odilion.
The Northern Portal dates from the mid twelfth century, but repeats and elsborates the earlier, simpler type. At a time of political crisis centred on the question of investiture, pitting the Papacy and the Empire against each other, the message of the reformist portal was perfectly clear: This is the throne of the true Lord, the heavenly Lord.
[Images from [url]http://en.structurae.de][/url]
The northern tympanum here depicts Christ seated in glory, blessing and holding the Book of the Gospels, and surrounded by an aureole supported by two angels, and circumscribed by the tetramorphic representations of the four Evangelists
The architrave depicts the twelve Aposles enthroned in glory.
The tympanum of the window depicts the biblical type of sacrifice: the Last Supper prefigured in the sacrifice of the Temple.
Cannot say who the eminence grise in Cobh might be. But, there is an earlier posting, from Descamps, I think, explaining some of the uglies behind the scene. At present, I am on tympana but will return to this later on.
Another exxample, the architrave of the portal of the Church of St. Genis-des-Fontaines, erected in 1019/1020:
If Moissac draws so many visitors these days, it is because of its tympanum and its cloister. The latter with its many famous capitals is rightly considered the most beautiful one left in the world. In the tympanum of the south portal, the sculpture of Moissac is truly monumental. It is placed above the level of the eye and is so large as to dominate the entire entrance. It is a gigantic semicircular relief, over 15 feet in diameter, framed by a slightly pointed archivolt in three orders. Its great mass is supported by a magnificently ornate lintel, a sculptured trumeau, or pillar, representing Paul and a bearded prophet, and two doorposts on which are carved the figures of Peter and the prophet Isaias. The portal is sheltered by a salient barrel-vaulted porch, decorated on its lower walls with reliefs representing incidents of the Infancy of Christ, the story of Lazarus and the Rich Man, the Punishment of Avarice and Unchastity. In its grouping and concentration of sculptures, the porch is comparable in enterprise to an arch of triumph. The tympanum itself is a remarkable work of engineering and architecture, for 28 blocks of stone were brought together to form its surface.
The meal of the rich man, Dives (at right),
as dying Lazarus is cared for by the dogs (left).
St. Peter on the left side of the entry door
under the Tympanum.To leave Maynooth modernity, and indeed modernity, for a while and return to St. Colman’s Cathedral and its glorious tympanum, I thought it might be interesting to explore its iconographic prototypes in Romanesque France and therefore post a picture of the magnificent tympanum of the Abbatiale de St. Pierre at Moissac constructed between 1120-1135.
St. Marry’s Square (nocturne)
I came across the following in a google search. It certainly captures the mood of St. Mary’s Square with accuracy:
I stayed at the College in Maynooth – the grounds and the loding was lovely.
Considering the College used to be a Catholic Seminary, the very pagan rock garden with it’s standing stones seemed out of place.
I caught the reflection of one of the college buildings in the pool of the Rock Garden.
I think it best that we do not pursue anything further about the standing stones.
Maynooth College Bi-Centenary Gardens
St. Mary’s Square, Maynooth – lower quad in the photograph (Before)
Ibid. loc. After
The Bi-Centenary Gardens were commissioned to commemorate the 200th Anniversary of Maynooth College in 1995. The Garden with its lake and fountains are based on the biblical theme ‘from origins to destiny’ and reflects the salvation of humankind in Genesis chapters two and three. All plants in the garden have been mentioned in the Bible.
While described oficially as above, there can be little doubting that the Bi-Centerary Gardens in St. Mary’s Square in Maynooth have little or nothing to do with Christianity or even Judaism as concepts like “destiny” and “origins”, and especially the “salvation of humankind” are nowhere to be found in the Old Testament. It is time to take a good hard look at the BI-Centenary Gardens and see it for what it is: a modern composition brutally imposed on an historical context without the slightest respect for the architectural integrity of St. Mary’s Square. The bit about Biblical plants is sheer hocus pocus as it is highly unlikely that anything grown in the Middle East would survive a winter in the mainly northern facing square. Micheal Ledwith realized in the great outdoors a level of vandalism only surpassed indoors in the contiguous St. Mary’s Oratory.
An interesting Aalto prototype
Parish Church, Riola (Italy)
The new church was one of the first in which the ‘reformed’ Roman Catholic liturgy would be given expression in architectural terms; the aim was to provide a close relationship between altar, choir and organ, as well as the baptistery. The shape of the church itself is an asymmetrical basilica with asymmetrical vaulting through which light, directed especially towards the altar, enters the building. Galleries were dispensed with, but the choir area was extended to compensate for their absence. The front wall of the church can be opened so that the forecourt serves as an extension to it.”
— Karl Fleig. Alvar Aalto. p171.
Details
The Riola Parish Center was designed in 1966.
The main body of the church was completed in 1978, without the campanile.
— Malcolm Quantrill. Alvar Aalto: A Critical Study. p204; Karl Fleig. Alvar Aalto. p171.
In relation to the Euch. Room in Carlow with its extensive use of stools, I think we may have to resort to Alvar Aalto’s domestic furniture of the 1930s to discover a prototype. If correct, then we shall have to abandon the artistic apotheosis of the Galway milking stools – though, of course, we cannot exclude the possibility of some indigenous trace elements of the Galway milking stool insinuating themselves into an otherwise anonymous composition.
Cleraly, the Viipuri library conference room, built in 1929, cannot be positively excluded as a prototype for the socalled antiphonal approach to the Euch. Room in Carlow and for its more elaborate version in St. Mary’s Oratory.
Stools chair by Alvar Aalto (1930-1931)
Elegant domestic modern stools and chairs designed by Alvar Aalto
Well, to-day, folks, it is a pre-Christmas trip to Santa in Lappland taking in a few views of the work of Alvar Aalto -a major influence, we are told, on Richard Hurley and Liam McCormack. Well, we can understand Aalto’s interest in white given that there is a lot of snow in Finland and Sweden. Indeed, one could even forgive him for feeling the need to introduce snow inspired colour into Finnish and Swedish interiors, but what is Richard Hurley up to in Ireland with all the whiteness. After all, we have not had anything like a blizzard for twenty years. I believe, however, that further exploration of this theme will shed some white light on the creations in the Euch. Room in Carlow and in St. Mary’s Oratory in Maynooth.
Heilig-geist Kirken, Wolfsburg
Another splendid example of “ecclesiastical” architecture
Kirche des Flachenkreuz in Seinaejoki (Schneeland)
interior
As for the enoblement of the stool:
see the Library, Viipuri (1929), Meeting Room
The Chruch of the Three Crosses,Vouksenniska, Imatra, Finland
I am compiling a list of the liturgical errors and omissions in the design and layout of St. Mary’s Oratory in Maynooth and would be glad to have comments from others before posting the list – just to ensure that I have them ALL..
