Rope rod
A rope rod is a special form of the vertical round rod , wound like a rope . Horizontal bead rings on columns , capitals or baptismal fonts can also be twisted like ropes; The latter, however, seem to be derived from the basic idea of the craftsmanship of basket weaving .
origin
Cords , cords and later ropes were already known in the cultures of the ancient Orient , Egypt and antiquity and were used in many different ways; the corded ceramists used them in the 3rd millennium BC. To produce the characteristic patterns in their pottery. In the Middle Ages, they were widely used as a variety of aids in transport, seafaring, warfare and construction (freight elevator with pedal bike, computing rope ). At an undetermined point in time, the characteristic rope or baptismal shape was also imitated as a decorative and architectural ornament.
distribution
Apart from a few early examples, rope rods are mainly found as a framing or accompanying element of high and late medieval components (portals, windows, arches) but also as structuring elements on wall surfaces, etc., preferably in the Manueline style of Portugal, which was influenced by seafaring . They also appear in the Persian and later Mughal architecture of northern India .
to form
While the European examples show no beginning and end pieces, the Near Eastern and Indian examples regularly develop from the hanging rope ends.
Examples
Founding stone of the rock monastery of San Pedro de Rocas , Galicia (6th century)
Rope rods as window frames, San Miguel de Lillo , Oviedo (9th century)
Rope rod as portal border, Jeronimos Monastery , Lisbon (16th century)
Rope rods as a lower window frame and as a wall structure, Templerburg , Tomar
(16th century)
Oversized rope rods as portal framing, shrine of Khwaja Abu Nasr Parsa in Balch , Afghanistan (1590s)
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Others
Rope rods roughly correspond in their appearance to the twisted shape of the narwhal tusk ( Ainkhürn ). In addition, there are distant similarities to twisted column shafts of the Romanesque and works of goldsmithing . The lower and upper edges of baskets or wicker chairs can also be twisted like a rope.