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— Medieval Manuscript Diagrams, Architectural MEDIEVAL MANUSCRIPT DIAGRAMS, ARCHITECTURAL STRUCTURES, AND THEIR RELATIONSHIPS: THE CASE OF CHARTRES CATHEDRAL by Karen Faye Webb B.A., Furman University, 1999 M.A.P.H., The University of Chicago, 2001 M.A., University of Florida, 2004 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Arts and Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Pittsburgh — 2010 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH ARTS AND SCIENCES This dissertation was presented by Karen Faye Webb It was defended on March 1, 2010 and approved by Kathleen Christian, Assistant Professor, History of Art and Architecture M. F. Hearn, Professor Emeritus, History of Art and Architecture Anne Weis, Associate Professor, History of Art and Architecture Adam Shear, Associate Professor, Religious Studies Dissertation Advisor: M. A. Stones, Professor, History of Art and Architecture ii Copyright © by Karen Faye Webb 2010 iii MEDIEVAL MANUSCRIPT DIAGRAMS, ARCHITECTURAL STRUCTURES, AND THEIR RELATIONSHIPS: THE CASE OF CHARTRES CATHEDRAL Karen Faye Webb, PhD University of Pittsburgh, 2010 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 iv 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. v TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE ................................................................................................................................... XV 1.0 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 1 1.1 LITERARY REFERENCES TO DIAGRAMS .............................................. 13 1.2 THE WORD FIGURA ....................................................................................... 15 1.3 ENTELECHY AND DIAGRAMMATIC THINKING .................................. 17 1.4 PREVIOUS SCHOLARSHIP........................................................................... 27 1.5 CHAPTER SUMMARIES ................................................................................ 33 2.0 INTELLECTUAL CONTEXT: THE CHARTRAINS AND THE CORNIFICIANS ......................................................................................................................... 35 2.1 THE LIBRARY AT CHARTRES .................................................................... 41 2.1.1 Polarities at Chartres Addressed in Manuscript Collections ................. 42 2.2 THE CHARTRAIN MASTERS ....................................................................... 43 2.2.1 The Legacy of the Chartrain Masters ....................................................... 45 2.2.2 Abelard’s Plea for Dialectics ...................................................................... 46 2.2.3 The Chartrains’ Perception of the Cornificians ...................................... 47 2.2.4 Augustine and Boethius .............................................................................. 52 2.2.5 Hugo of Folieto’s Diagrams of True and False Religion ......................... 53 2.2.6 The Perceiver and the Perceived ............................................................... 57 vi 3.0 CATHEDRAL PLAN AND WINDOWS AS LOCI ................................................ 63 3.1 ENTELECHY AND MICROCOSM/MACROCOSM ................................... 64 3.2 NORTH (LEFT) SIDE OF THE CATHEDRAL ............................................ 85 3.2.1 The Month of June. ..................................................................................... 85 3.2.2 The Month of July. ...................................................................................... 86 3.2.3 The Month of April. .................................................................................... 87 3.2.4 The Month of May. ..................................................................................... 88 3.2.5 The Month of March. ................................................................................. 88 3.2.6 The Month of February. ............................................................................. 89 3.2.7 The Month of January ................................................................................ 90 3.3 THE SOUTH (RIGHT) SIDE OF THE CATHEDRAL ................................ 91 3.3.1 The Sign of Leo............................................................................................ 91 3.3.2 The Sign of Cancer...................................................................................... 91 3.3.3 The Sign of Gemini, Taurus, and the Month of May. ............................. 92 3.3.3.1 The Explanation for the Combining of Taurus and Gemini. ......... 93 3.3.4 The Sign of Aries. ........................................................................................ 93 3.3.5 The Sign of Pisces. ....................................................................................... 94 3.3.6 The Sign of Aquarius .................................................................................. 94 3.4 NAVE DIAGRAMMING .................................................................................. 96 3.5 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................ 106 4.0 INTELLECTUAL CONTEXT: COLORS AND POSTURES ............................ 108 4.1 THE WINDOWS AS CELLAE....................................................................... 123 4.2 TRADES OF MEDITATION ......................................................................... 124 vii 4.3 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................ 128 5.0 WINDOW READING PATTERNS ....................................................................... 130 5.1 MARCUS MANILIUS AND THE POSTURES ........................................... 131 5.2 THE HISTORIOGRAPHY ............................................................................ 143 5.3 THE IMPORTANCE OF COLOR ................................................................ 149 5.4 WINDOW DIAGRAMS WITH COLORS AND POSTURES .................... 158 5.5 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................ 188 6.0 CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................... 189 APPENDIX A ............................................................................................................................ 192 APPENDIX B ............................................................................................................................ 222 APPENDIX C ............................................................................................................................ 242 BIBLIOGRAPHY ..................................................................................................................... 290 viii LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Authors and Manuscripts in the Chartres Library .......................................................... 40 Table 2: Authors and their Connections to Chartres ..................................................................... 40 Table 3: Windows as Consanguinity Tree .................................................................................... 72 Table 4: Organization of the Zodiac and Labors of the Months Window .................................... 78 Table 5: Cathedral Window Placements and the Zodiac and Labors of the Months Window ..... 78 Table 6: The Left (North) Side of the Cathedral--Left Side of the Zodiac Window .................... 80 Table 7: Right
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