Specific Aspects of the Spanish Monastery - Case Study Example

Analyzing specific aspects of the Spanish Monastery The Spanish monastery and its part of empires finally combined with the Benedictine Order of Cluny in Romanesque era in the early middle Ages. The monks of Cluny extended all through Europe and established the monasteries whose architectural construction may in future be a case to follow, with slight disparities in some monastic guidelines, considering possible regional distinctions. The cloister was an enclosed space that secluded and confined the monastery and its inhabitants, hence being of much significance regarding the religious life being cultured. The typical medieval Spanish cloister is the Benedictine whose outline extended all through Christian Europe. Its structure comprises four arcades called pandas, one is joined to the south or north nave of the place of worship. One arcade is devoted at all times to the chapter house and an additional small unit. The west arcade accommodates regularly the cilla and laymen, and the arcade margin to the place of worship has the dining hall and is joined to the kitchen calefactory. Chapter house is an area that is the component of the monastery wherein superior meetings are held. In monasteries, the whole society often met in the chapter house each day for reading and to hear the abbot or elder monks speak. When connected to a cloistered church, the dean, prebendaries and canons of the seminary meet there. The quarters could also be utilized for other conferences of different kinds; in the middle age times sovereigns on an excursion in their country would often occupy them for their meetings and viewers. Special council of members of the church, Christian courts and related meetings frequently happen in chapter houses. (www.historyfish.net/monastics/partsofmonastery.html) Columns are an essential structural aspect of Romanesque structural design. Colonnettes and joined streams are also used structurally and for beautification. Monumental columns sliced from a piece of stone were commonly made use of in Italy, since they had been in Roman and Early Christian structural design. Arcades of columns cut from particular pieces are also common in construction that do not stand substantial heaviness of masonry, for instance cloisters, where they are at times paired. A huge number of historic Roman columns were reclaimed and used again in the interiors and on the entry of churches. The most long-lasting of these columns are of limestone and have the stone flat bedded. Most are perpendicularly bedded and are occasionally of a range of colors. They may have maintained their original Roman capitals, usually of the Corinthian or Roman Composite technique. Some buildings, such as Santa Maria in Cosmedin and the entrance at San Clemente in Rome, may have a strange assortment of columns in which outsized capitals are positioned on short columns and tiny capitals are placed on taller columns to level the height. Architectural conciliation of this type is observed where materials have been recovered from several constructions. In the largest parts of Europe, Romanesque columns were enormous as they supported thick upper walls with tiny windows, and at times weighty crypts. The most used method of construction was to construct them from stone cylinders named drums, like in the crypt at Speyer Cathedral. Where enormous columns were needed for example, those at Durham Cathedral, they were built from ashlar masonry and the hollow core was packed with debris. These massive untapered columns are occasionally decorated with carved decorations. Arcades An arcade is a chain of arches, sustained on columns. They are found in the inner part of large churches, extricating the nave from the walkways, and in big worldly interiors spaces, for instance the great hall of a palace, underneath the timbers of a top or upper floor. They are also found in cloisters and atriums, encircling an open space. Arcades can occur in stages. Although that of a cloister is characteristically of a single phase, the one that separates the nave and walkways in a church is characteristically of two phases, with a third phase of window holes called the clerestory which rises above them. Arcading extensively usually meet the terms of a structural use, except it is also used, usually on a smaller scale, as a decorative aspect, both within and superficially where it is often "blind arcading" with barely a wall or a tapered passage at the back of it. In the chapel, there is a tainted glass pane. Its use is not to allow those inside the chapel to see outside even principally to let light in, but somewhat control it. The window has for that reason been illustrated as illumine wall decoration. The design could be symbolic or non symbolic. It may also integrate stories drawn from the bible olden times or text such as saints for example, experiences from the life of Jesus Christ. The design creates a nice cool environment favorable for prayers and no destruction as the interior only allow some little light. The Corinthian capital is substantially round at the base where it rests on a rounded column and four-sided figure at the top, where it supports an arch. This structure of capital was retained in the general scopes and sketches of the Romanesque capital. This was attained most merely by cutting a rectangular chop and taking the four lower bends off slanted in order that the block was square at the apex, although octagonal at the base. This wrought lent itself to a broad range of external actions, at times foliate in replication of the basis, but often symbolic. In Northern Europe they commonly stand far more similarity to the details of manuscript illumination than to Classical foundations. In some regions of France and Italy, there are tough links to the penetrated capitals of Byzantine architecture. It is in the symbolic capitals that the greatest innovation is exposed. While some are reliant on documents illustrations of Biblical views and representations of creatures and giants, the rest are lively pictures of the myths of confined saints. Even as retaining the form of a square top and a round bottom, were often compacted into little more than a stuffed cushion-shape. This is chiefly the case on big masonry columns, or on large columns that interchange with piers as at Durham. The walls of Romanesque constructions are frequently of substantial breadth with few and moderately small holes. They are time and again twofold shells, packed with rubble. The material used for construction varies a lot across Europe; depends upon the local stone and building backgrounds. In some areas, brick is commonly used. Other areas used limestone, granite and flint extensively. The construction stone was regularly used in relatively small and unequal pieces, bedded in thick mortar. Smooth ashlar masonry was not a unique feature of the technique, especially in the prior part of the time, but happened primarily where simply worked limestone was accessible. A mason's mark is defined as an indication frequently found on dressed stone in constructions and added communal constructions. (oxforddictionaries.com) In conclusion, I think the architectural qualities that make the cloister a good place for solitary meditation and prayer is how enclosed it is and secluded. The typical medieval Spanish cloister is that whose sketch consists of four arcades: one is joined to the south or north nave of the place of worship. Another one is devoted at all times to the chapter house and an additional small unit. The west arcade accommodates often the cilla and laymen, and the arcade margin to the place of worship has the refectory also called the hall for eating. In some monasteries, the profundis space is replaced with the dinning hall where the monks chant Psalm. This contributed much to the people’s religious life as they had the best environment for their prayers and even a place for the monks to chant psalms. The only thing I did not like about its structure is the kitchen calefactory being adjacent to it as this would divert one’s attention especially by the smell of food being cooked when having prayers on an empty stomach. Sketch of the Spanish Monastery for one page; High resolution Image Source: http://tripsketch.com Works Cited Fairhurst, Richenda. "Historyfish.net Parts of a Monastery, Chapter Two." historyfish.net. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Dec. 2012. . "Definition of mason's mark - emblem and building (British & World English)." Oxford Dictionaries Online. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Dec. 2012. . Read More