View / Download 5.9 Mb
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Mediterranean Trade and Architectural Production: The Church of S. Corrado in Molfetta (Apulia) ca. 1100-1300 CE by Joseph Chandler Williams Department of Art, Art History & Visual Studies DuKe University Date:_______________________ Approved: ___________________________ Caroline Bruzelius, Supervisor ___________________________ Glaire Anderson ___________________________ Annabel Wharton ___________________________ Sara Galletti Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Art, Art History & Visual Studies in the Graduate School of DuKe University 2017 i v ABSTRACT Mediterranean Trade and Architectural Production: The Church of S. Corrado in Molfetta (Apulia) ca. 1100-1300 CE by Joseph Chandler Williams Department of Art, Art History & Visual Studies DuKe University Date:_______________________ Approved: ___________________________ Caroline Bruzelius, Supervisor ___________________________ Glaire Anderson ___________________________ Annabel Wharton ___________________________ Sara Galletti An abstract of a dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Art, Art History & Visual Studies in the Graduate School of DuKe University 2017 i v Copyright by Joseph Chandler Williams 2017 Abstract The 12th- and 13th-century cathedral of S. Corrado in Molfetta (Apulia) illuminates the effects of Mediterranean trade on architectural production. The town's engagement with long-distance commerce supported professional travel and prompted new institution-building strategies in ecclesiastical and lay society. In these ways trade reshaped the finances, building process, and specialized expertise of S. Corrado. This study applies a combination of approaches to the written record and built fabric of the church. Documents are examined for their financial structures and symbolic ramifications. The building fund is found to have manifested the competitive relationships of many large institutions, producing a multiplicity of forms and functions in the cathedral. A new chronological analysis informed by construction archaeology (detailed photography, on-site measurement, digital modeling, and diagrammatic visualization) suggests that the cathedral was designed in a series of flexible episodes, and not in accordance with an original plan. New technical comparisons suggest that the specialized Knowledge of the worK force of S. Corrado was transmitted from a range of contexts (including the northern Adriatic and southern France). These dynamics can be related, more precisely than before, to specific conditions of the commercializing economy. Thus the findings of this study can inform the methods and frameworKs of architectural history in the larger Mediterranean context. iv Dedication To the kind and inspiring residents of Molfetta. v Contents Abstract ......................................................................................................................................... iv List of Charts .............................................................................................................................. viii List of Illustrations ....................................................................................................................... ix AcKnowledgements ................................................................................................................... xiv Introduction: A Mediterranean Church Through the Lens of Production............................ 1 The Building and the Questions It Poses ........................................................................... 12 The Post-Medieval Restorations of S. Corrado and the Writing of its History ............ 23 Organization of the Present WorK ...................................................................................... 41 1. Finances: Institutional Competition and Multifunctioning Architecture ....................... 43 State of the Question: Institutional Explanations of Church Finances .......................... 46 Evidence and Method ........................................................................................................... 56 Funding Strategies of the Episcopacy ................................................................................ 60 Funding Strategies of the Laity ........................................................................................... 88 2. Process: Episodic Construction Strategies and their Advantages .................................. 104 State of the Question: Toward a Strategic Explanation of Building Phases ............... 108 Evidence and Method ......................................................................................................... 115 Phase 1: Standalone Transept Crypt................................................................................. 118 Phase 2: Toward a Transept Basilica and a Nave Crypt ................................................ 125 Phase 3: Toward a Three-Dome Configuration .............................................................. 136 Phases 4 and 5: Completion of the Nave and Domes .................................................... 146 vi 3. Expertise: Specialization and NetworKs of Knowledge ................................................... 157 State of the Question: Reconsidering the Geography of Architectural TechniQues .. 161 Evidence and Method ......................................................................................................... 175 Expertise at the Quarry ...................................................................................................... 178 Expertise in Stone Cutting and Assembly ....................................................................... 190 Expertise in Planimetrics .................................................................................................... 209 Conclusion: Implications for the Methods of Mediterranean Architectural History ...... 225 The Responsive Nature of Church Patronage................................................................. 226 Comparisons on the Basis of Practice ............................................................................... 230 Symbolic Explanations for Regional Formal Affinities ................................................. 235 Charts........................................................................................................................................... 240 Illustrations ................................................................................................................................. 254 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................... 344 Biography .................................................................................................................................... 359 vii List of Charts Chart 1. Numbered plan of S. Corrado in Molfetta. ............................................................. 240 Chart 2. Map of the dual archbishopric of Bari-Canosa and eligible suffragan sees as listed in papal bull 1025 CE. ..................................................................................................... 241 Chart 3. Diagrammatic representation of the use of Orthophotographs to analyze the evidence of masonry breaKs. .................................................................................................... 242 Chart 4. Diagram of proposed sequence of building phases at S. Corrado in Molfetta. Interior longitudinal elevation of north wall. ........................................................................ 243 Chart 5. Diagram of proposed sequence of building phases at S. Corrado in Molfetta. Interior longitudinal elevation of south wall. ........................................................................ 244 Chart 6. Diagram of proposed sequence of building phases at S. Corrado in Molfetta. Longitudinal section of middle and west dome. .................................................................. 245 Chart 7. Table of churches featuring piers with mixed-construction shafts. .................... 246 Chart 8. Map of churches featuring piers with mixed-construction shafts. ...................... 247 Chart 9. Table of churches featuring domes that combine pseudo-pendentives with horizontally coursed sQuinches. .............................................................................................. 248 Chart 10. Map of churches featuring domes combining pseudo-pendentives with horizontally-coursed sQuinches. .............................................................................................. 249 Chart 11. Table of churches featuring projecting transept using combination of rotating sQuare method and 2:1 ratio for nave and side-aisle widths............................................... 250 Chart 12. Map of churches featuring projecting transept using combination of rotating sQuare method and 2:1 ratio for nave and side-aisle widths............................................... 251 Chart 13. Table of churches featuring multiple sQuare bays on central axis, combined with 2:1 nave-to-aisle ratio and quadrant vaults over the side aisles. ............................... 252 Chart 14. Map of churches featuring multiple sQuare bays on central axis, combined with 2:1 nave-to-aisle ratio and quadrant vaults over the side aisles. .......................................