Édifices médiévaux, métrologie, organisation de l'espace, à propos de la cathédrale de Beauvais - article ; n°1 ; vol.47, pg 87-106

Annales. Économies, Sociétés, Civilisations - Année 1992 - Volume 47 - Numéro 1 - Pages 87-106
Medieval edifices, metrology and spatial organization : the cathedral of Beauvais.
Most historians of art base their research on feeling and the eye. Plans of buildings, when they are available are small and very approximative. The present study is founded on the hypothesis that medieval architects used measuring instruments limiting themselves to round figures and simple proportions in order to determine the principle dimensions of building. The study demonstrates that this hypothesis is perfectly applicable to the cathedral of Beauvais, and that the finished result is clear enough to lead us necessarily to conclude that the plan (horizontal as well as vertical) was entirely homogeneous. In view of this conclusion arguments regarding the direction in which construction took place (from east to west or west to east etc.) are superfluous. The author discusses the implications of these observations with respect both to the question of proportional symbolism in the medieval period, and to the question of the precision of medieval as well as modern systems of measurement.
20 pages
Source : Persée ; Ministère de la jeunesse, de l’éducation nationale et de la recherche, Direction de l’enseignement supérieur, Sous-direction des bibliothèques et de la documentation.