Trumeau (pillar)

Statue of Christ ( Beau Dieu ) on the Trumeau pillar of the south transept of Chartres Cathedral

The term Trumeau or Trumeauppeiler ("middle post") describes the middle stone pillar of a portal that supports the stone linteau and thus the tympanum . The term is used in particular for Romanesque and Gothic church portals.

function

Trumea pillars have become necessary in the development of European architecture because the entrance portal of the large monastery churches and cathedrals has become more and more complex and larger over time and this has resulted in structural problems for this zone.

Dream figure

The Trumeau pillar is often adorned by a figure ("Trumeaufigur") in front of it - the patron saint of the church is usually shown, and since the beginning of the 13th century also a figure of Christ or the Madonna . In a few cases ( Moissac , Souillac ) the Trumea pillar is designed as a “ beast pillar ”.

Examples

St. Pierre Church in Avignon

"Slaves" as bearers of the lintel at the abbey church of St-Pierre (Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne)

Four-column tower of the Saint-Pierre abbey in Carennac
Romanesque " beast pillar " of the Abbey of Saint-Pierre in Moissac
"Slaves" as bearers of the lintel at the abbey church of St-Pierre (Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne)
St. Anne at the central portal of the north transept of Chartres Cathedral
Christ on the central portal of the south transept of Chartres Cathedral
“Beau Dieu” (Christ) on the west portal of Amiens Cathedral
"Beau Dieu" at the north transept of Reims Cathedral
"Vierge dorée" (Golden Madonna) on the south transept of Amiens Cathedral
Madonna on the north transept of the Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral
Madonna at the portal of the Chartreuse de Champmol near Dijon
Bishop ( San Froilán ?) At the south portal of the Cathedral of León

literature

Günther Binding : Architectural Form Theory. Darmstadt / Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft 1980, Figs. 145, 281, 283, 284 a, 285, 394, 577.
Dieter Kimpel / Robert Suckale : The sculpture workshop of the Vierge dorée at the Honoratus portal of the Cathedral of Amiens , in: Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte, 36 vol., No. 4 (1973), pp. 217–265.
Ise Schüssler: The Reims Visitatio-Maria as the first Trumeau-Madonna , in: Marburger Jahrbuch für Kunstwissenschaft, 18th vol. (1969), pp. 119–142.
Eugène Viollet-le-Duc : Dictionnaire raisonné de l'architecture française du XIe au XVIe siècle , Volume 9, “Trumeau”, Wikisource .

Web links

Commons : Trumeaux - collection of images, videos and audio files

Art dictionary by PW Hartmann