(Student’s Full Name)
In reading the excerpt from The Book of Suger, Abbot of Saint-Denis and Vitruvius: The Ten Books on Architecture, one will identify the principles of design, which will ensure that an edifice is well-constructed. These two writings show how important it is to adhere to a particular plan or design to achieve “durability, convenience, and beauty” (Vitruvius Pollio 17). For instance, in Abbot Saint-Denis explains that make the Carolingian pilgrimage church by using “geometrical and arithmetical tools” to make the “center of the old church” coincide with the “center of the new construction” (Suger 23). Suger and his assistants did this by “superimposing the upper columns and median arches” over the other columns and arches built in the “crypt” (Suger 23). When the church was reconstructed in such a manner then it helped it to become more durable. This durability would then explain the Caroligian pilgrimage church withstanding the onslaught of a terrible storm. The building was able to stand even with forceful winds pushing against its “arches” and columns.
Furthermore, the Abbot ensured that the Caroligian pilgrimage church was built for the convenience of those going to the church. For example, the Abbot and his assistants decided to “replace the vault” which was “unequal” to the “apse containing” the dead bodies of the Saints (Suger 22). He chose instead to place it on the “upper level of the crypt” (Suger 22). When it is changed in this way then the “single crypt” will act as a “pavement” to persons entering the church by the stairs, thus allowing those entering the church to view the graves of the Saints “adorned with gold and precious stones” from the “upper level” (Suger 22). Therefore, this would allow those entering the church building to admire its beauty. Furthermore, when the Abbot reconstructed the church building in such a manner then it was built to the convenience to those who were entering it.
Works Cited
Suger, Abbot. On the Abbey Church of St.-Denis and Its Art Treasures. Trans. Erwin Panofsky. Ed. Gerda Panofsky-Soergel. 2nd ed. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1979. Print.
R., Vitruvius Pollio. S. E. Vitruvius: The Ten Books of Architecture. Trans. M. H. Morgan. New York: Dover Publications, 1960. Print.
