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" VISIGOTHIC ARCHITECTURE IN SPAIN AND PORTUGAL: A STUDY IN MASONRY, DOCUMENTS, AND FORM "
K. Kingsley
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Latin Dissertation
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| Language of Document
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English
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| Record Number
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124360
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| Doc. No
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TL38059
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| Call number
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8029453
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| Main Entry
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K. Kingsley
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| Title & Author
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VISIGOTHIC ARCHITECTURE IN SPAIN AND PORTUGAL: A STUDY IN MASONRY, DOCUMENTS, AND FORM\ K. Kingsley
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| College
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University of California, Berkeley
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| Date
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1980
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| Degree
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Ph.D.
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| student score
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1980
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| Page No
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472
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| Abstract
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A group of early medieval monuments in Spain and Portugal have been variously dated to the seventh century or to the late ninth and early tenth centuries. These monuments include: Santa Comba de Bande (Orense), San Pedro de la Nave (Zamora), Santa Mar(')ia de Quintanilla de las Vinas (Burgos), and San Fructuoso de Montelios (Braga, Portugal). Attempts to date these monuments have been based on the sculpture, the architectural concepts, and the documentary evidence, all of which have proved inconclusive in their results. Misinterpretation of some of the documents has also hindered a precise understanding of the exact dates of construction. All four monuments are built of large, squared stone laid in approximately even courses. Through analysis of the masonry style on a comparative basis of all early medieval building in Spain and Portugal from the fourth to the tenth centuries it is possible to assign the four monuments a more accurate data. Clear patterns of change in masonry styles can be observed from the securely dated buildings of this time period. Fourth and fifth century architecture is composed of rubble or small stone. Large stone is reintroduced in the sixth century primarily for the apse of a building. By the seventh century large stone is used throughout the securely dated structures and the stones are of proportions and organization similar to those of the four controversially dated monuments. The Islamic invasion of the peninsula in 711 causes a breakdown of masonry workshops. From the securely dated monuments of the ninth century a pattern can be established of the use of small roughly hewn stones at the beginning of the century, to medium size stones in mid-century, to the reemergence at the very end of the century of large stone. But the monuments constructed of large, dressed, stone in the late ninth and the first half of the tenth centuries frequently reuse material from earlier buildings. Masonry is rarely cut especially for the building and in those cases where it is dimensions and organization of the stones differs considerably from those of the four controversially dated monuments. In the reconquest areas, where the four controversially dated monuments are located, workshops capable of producing quality masonry are extremely limited. Rubble is still the predominant building material in the late ninth and early tenth centuries. Large dressed masonry, then, is not characteristic of these centuries as it is of the seventh century. From an analysis of the masonry alone the four monuments best suit a seventh century date. The sculpture and architectural concepts of Bande, Nave, Vinas, and Montelios also indicate a seventh century date for they show no trace of Islamic design elements as is true for all other churches dating from the late ninth century. Finally, proper translation and interpretation of the documents confirms the evidence suggested by the masonry, the sculpture, and the architectural form. These four monuments--Santa Comba de Bande, San Pedro de la Nave, Santa Mar(')ia de Quintanilla de las Vinas, and San Fructuoso de Montelios--were constructed in the seventh century; not in the late ninth or tenth centuries.
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| Subject
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Communication and the arts; Fine Arts; 0357:Fine Arts
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| Added Entry
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University of California, Berkeley
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