Triforium
The triforium is a corridor in the high wall of late Romanesque , but above all Gothic, basilicas , which is only open to the central nave . It forms a middle floor between the arcades on the ground floor and the top floor , the window zone of the central nave. If the triforium is not designed as a walkway, but simply faded into the masonry as a wall structure , one speaks of a blind triforium .
Word meaning
The often claimed derivation of the term from Latin tri- (three-) and foris (door, opening) in the sense of "triple opening" is probably wrong, as the term was first used in the report of the medieval monk Gervasius on the reconstruction of Canterbury Cathedral from 1185 refers to a walkway without triple openings. Therefore, a derivation from the medieval Anglo-Latin term for “openwork” handicrafts or an emergence as an English-Latin made-up word thoroughfarum (“passage”) is suggested as more likely . In any case, in today's usage the word is not tied to the occurrence of triple openings.
The architecture and art history literature of the 19th century already followed this word meaning. In the "Reallexikon der Kunstgewerbe" by Bruno Bucher (Verlag von Georg Paul Faesy, Vienna 1884) it says on page 410: "Triforium (middle lat.), In medieval churches a wall thickness above the divider arches that runs towards the inside of the church Corridor opening in arched positions; also merely arched positions in the same place without corridor behind: blind triforias. "
function
The triforium is essentially a stylistic element that has its origins in the fact that behind it originally the pent roofs of the side aisles lie and thus the windows of the upper aisle do not extend to the arcade arches. It avoids creating an undivided area and thus serves as a plastic enrichment, less of a practical purpose (function as a walkway).
history
An important preliminary stage of the triforium was created around 1140 in the Cathedral of Sens (France). The real triforium appeared for the first time in the cathedral of Noyon (France) around 1150 - but in a four-part wall elevation characteristic of the early Gothic period (Soissons, Laon, etc.). Since the construction of the new nave of Chartres Cathedral began in 1190, the classic three-part Gothic wall elevation (arcade zone, triforium, ceilings) has prevailed in almost all new cathedral buildings .
In the further development of Gothic architecture, other roof shapes were designed for the aisle in order to avoid any windowless zone. Either the aisle was given a gable roof or each yoke of the aisle or pair of yokes in the case of double aisles received a separate hood as a hipped roof . So the triforium could be provided with windows and almost the entire wall surface was transparent. As a result, the triforium had lost its actual function, but was retained as a dividing element for a long time. In some late Gothic churches, however, it disappeared completely; the Ober- or Lichtgaden was then brought down to the arcade zone, so that the classic three-part Gothic wall elevation was now reduced to a two-part.
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Gervasius writes about the Romanesque predecessor church: supra quem murum via erat quae triforium appelatur (“above this wall was a path called the triforium”). For the new building (erected from 1175), he reports on the deeds of the builder: “ triforium inferius multis intexuit columpnis marmoreis. Super quod triforium aliud quoque ex alia materia et fenestras superiores aptavit. "(" In the lower triforium he added many marble columns. Above this he placed another triforium made of different material and the upper windows. ") - Gervasius of Canterbury: Tractatus de combustione et reparatione Cantuariensis ecclesiae , ed. W. Stubbs, London 1879. Online at Gallica .
- ↑ Ducange, Glossarium, keyword "Triforium" (online edition of the 'Ecole nationale des chartes', accessed on October 4, 2010)