DU2384 Central buildings of medieval Europe

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2022
Extent and Intensity
2/0/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Aleš Flídr (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. Mgr. Pavel Suchánek, Ph.D.
Department of Art History – Faculty of Arts
Supplier department: Department of Art History – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Tue 16:00–17:40 K31
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is offered to students of any study field.
Course objectives
In the frame of the course students get to know central ground-plan buildings, surprisingly quite often emerging in the medieval architecture. The question occures all the more so that for the gathering of believers the lungitudinally shaped churches are much more practical. But this originates from the memorial function of the central ground-plan buildings, which has its roots in the classical Antic. The buildings symmetrical to their midpoint centre (hereinafter referred to as centrals) mark the place of special memory, memorable locations where important occasions took place – connected with hystorical or legendary affairs or liturgical process of the Christian life. The cupolas of centrals overarch places relating to the lifetime of Jesus Christ, Virgin Maria and the first apostles, places where the saints died or where the great miracles took place. In the walls of these buildings valuable relics are preserved, holy remains but also symbols of the state and deposits. In baptisteriums the pagan life came to its end and the new Christian life of each individual started. In the burial chapels the earthly journey finished and the voyage to heaven begins. One of the most important buildings which had been many times imitated was the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, the place where Jesus Christus died and was resurrected. In the transalpine Europe a special building type was spread – rotunda, which is quite unique as regards the original function of centrals.
Learning outcomes
To describe the memorial purpose of the central-shaped buildings, to distinguish the different functions of centrals, to identify the beginnings and widespread of the imperial representative buildings and their imitations in the profane environment, to form basic tendencies in the development of the Christian central ground-plan buildings, to determine typical motives of imitating the Holy Jerusalem, to know the most important examples of the medieval central ground-plan buildings in Europe
Syllabus
  • 1. Centrals for the Emperor 2. Buildings of birth and death 3. The New Jerusalem 4. Rotundas known and unknown
Literature
    recommended literature
  • Wolfgang Götz, Zentralbau und Zentralbautendenz in der gotischen Architektur. Berlin 1968
  • Matthias Untermann, Der Zentralbau im Mittelalter. Darmstadt 1989
  • Valentino Volta (ed.), Rotonde d'Italia: analisi tipologica della pianta centrale. Milano: Jaca Book, c2008.
  • Hugo Brandenburg, Die frühchristlichen Kirchen in Rom vom 4. bis zum 7. Jahrhundert: der Beginn der abendländischen Kirchenbaukunst. Regensburg 2013.
  • Massimiliano David. Ravenna: Kunst und Architektur in Antike und Mittelalter. Petersberg: Michael Imhof, c2013.
  • Robin Griffith-Jones – Eric Fernie, ed. Tomb and temple: re-imagining the sacred buildings of Jerusalem. Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 2018.
  • Václav Richter, O účelu československých rotund. Český časopis historický 42, č. 2, 3-4, 1936, s. 237-285; 453-483.
  • Anežka Merhautová, Einfache mitteleuropäische Rundkirchen: (ihr Ursprung, Zweck und ihre Bedeutung). Praha 1970.
  • Lubomír Jan Konečný, Románská rotunda ve Znojmě: ikonologie maleb a architektury. Brno: Host, 2005.
  • Jarmila Čiháková – Martin Müller, Malostranská rotunda svatého Václava v Praze. Praha: 2020.
  • Martin Vančo, Stredoveké rotundy na Slovensku: 9.-13. storočie. Bratislava 2000.
  • Vera Gerves-Molnár, A középkori Magyarország rotundái. Budapest 1972.
  • Josef Poulík, Dvě velkomoravské rotundy v Mikulčicích, Praha 1963.
  • Jiří Macháček – Adéla Balcárková – Pavel Čáp – Petr Dresler – Antonín Přichystal – Renáta Přichystalová – Eliška Schuplerová – Vladimír Sládek, Velkomoravská rotunda z Pohanska u Břeclavi. Památky archeologické Praha 105, 2014, s. 87-153.
  • Václav Paukrt, Románské karnery na Moravě. Diplomová práce, SDU FF Brno 1975.
  • Wolfgang Westwerhoff, Karner in Österreich und Südtirol. St. Pölten 1989.
Teaching methods
The course is taught in the form of lectures.
Assessment methods
Oral examination.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is taught only once.
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