10 Comments

Love Field Guide book so much that I bought it twice! I think a piece on the symbolism of figures in ceiling bosses, corbel heads, etc, would be wonderful. How can we recognise when a motif means something or is just decoration for example?

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Thank you, Fairy Godmother! LOL.

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That one will provide plenty of room for argument. Even if we can agree what a figure represents, can we really be sure about the significance of its placement? In most churches and cathedrals we don't have a clear indication of the complete scheme so there has often been a lot of guesswork in interpretation.

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I quite agree, Andrew. Although I've been informed that I'm not allowed to respond simply with โ€œwho the heck knows?!โ€

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But we were hoping you had all the answers.

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LOL.

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Yes, I agree to some extent. However, I think that we can find similarities with many of these images, they are often repeated in a geographical cross section of churches, so are they all copied from each other and is there a common message to the observer that needs to be deciphered? For example, does the trefoil in architecture represent, perhaps, the Trinity, etc, or is it just a pretty pattern that caught on with patrons and their masons?

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Perhaps, but is the church built for the observer or as a House of God, as the Heavenly Jerusalem on Earth? Numerological significance abounds, yes.

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Both! One leads to the other, otherwise the non-conformists got it right and a square plain box will do just as well and keep the rain off. (It might, but boring)

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