Capitel adieu

For over 20 years, they have accompanied me in my preoccupation with medieval architecture. Wherever a pillar, a column - they end in a capital.

Whether ancient capitals, such as in Jouarre, old medieval mushroom capitals, or daring or poetic figurative Romanesque capitals - I have dealt with them a lot and they have always fascinated me.

With the abundance of types and forms, I have occasionally forgotten their function: they organize and decorate the transition between the column and the beams or vaults.

Main church in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, late Gothic, 15th century

 

After having dealt with Late Gothic architecture more intensively, I have had to conclude (why so late?) - the capital disappears. Like branches of a tree, the column gave birth to a bundle of different vault types.

Cathedral of Our Lady Antwerp, Late Gothic, 15th century

Despite a certain melancholy, two things offer me comfort: the problem was mostly resolved in an aesthetically pleasing manner, and the capital would be honored again during subsequent art periods.