Category Archives: DICTIONARY

DICTIONARY, LETTER C

Twelve (Uncovered) Consecration Crosses, Each for One Apostle

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In the Catholic Church, referred to as crosses or apostolic candlesticks. Usually they are in the form of a block, tiles with a symbolic cross, are painted or carved into the wall. A single-arm candlestick or lamp is placed under them. Their number, twelve in total, symbolically refers to the Twelve Apostles. They are located on the walls of the main nave to mark the twelve places of consecration of the church. After the Second Vatican Council, the number of anointed places in in church was reduced to four. However, the anointing of the church in twelve places has not been forbidden. Candlesticks are lit on the anniversary of the church’s dedication.

The custom itself comes from the Old Gallic liturgy (France from the fifth century to the tenth century). The Polish name comes from the biblical name Zacchaeus (hence Zacheuszki), who received Jesus Christ in his home.

Featured image: The so-called in Polish Zacchaeus in the form of a cross in the wooden Gothic Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Borek in Tarnów (Poland). Photo by J. Błaż (2008). Public domain. Image cropped; colours intensified. Photo source: “Zacheuszki” (2018). In: Wikipedia. Wolna Encyklopedia.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

“Zacheuszek” (2018). In: Wikipedia. Wolna Encyklopedia. Available at <https://bit.ly/3qP17ny>. [Accessed 23rd February, 2021].

Kubara: dewocjonalia (2021). Zacheuszki. in: Kubara: dewocjonalia. Available at <https://bit.ly/3qQsUnj>. [Accessed 23rd February, 2021].

PWN (2007). Słownik terminologiczny sztuk pięknych, p. 447. Kubalska-Sulkiewicz K., Bielska-Łach M., Manteuffel-Szarota A. eds. Wydanie piąte. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN.

DICTIONARY, LETTER S

Spire (Helm) – A Slender Tower Crowning the Roof

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The top of a tower or the end of a dome or helmet but mainly at the summit of church steeples. A spire is usually in the shape of a very tall, slender and pointed pyramid or cone. It may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan. It is also the slender helmet itself on top of a roof or tower. “Spires are typically built of stonework or brickwork, or else of timber structure with metal cladding, ceramic tiling, shingles, or slates on the exterior”. Brick or stone spires, sometimes openwork, were characteristic of Gothic architecture and they are called pinnacles. In French Gothic, the spire at the transept crossing is much more slender and openwork than the two towers (bell-towers) rising at the western end of a church, or more often a cathedral (region of Île-de-France). Whereas in English Gothic, the spire at the transept crossing is a much more massive steeple (tower) crowned with a spire, as it simultaneously plays the role of a bell-tower (for example, Salisbury cathedral). In the Baroque period, spires were made of copper sheet and were crowned with helmets. Spires are also a characteristic element of Ruthenian and Russian architecture.

The slender and openwork spire at the transept crossing of the cathedral, Notre Dame de Paris (France). It was designed by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, who built a new roof and spire for Notre-Dame in the nineteenth century, after centuries of the cathedral’s negligence. Unfortunately, due to human recklessness, it was destroyed in the cathedral’s fire in 2019. Photo by Karolina Jędzrzejko. Copyright©Archaeotravel.

Featured image: Spire of Salisbury Cathedral (completed 1320) (123 metres with its tower and spire on top). Photo by Antony McCallum (2016). The author is the uploader, photographer, full copyright owner and proprietor of WyrdLight.com. CC BY-SA 4.0. Image cropped; colours intensified. Photo source: “Spire” (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

“Spire” (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia. Available at <https://bit.ly/2NyO6A1>. [Accessed 24th February, 2021].

Koch W. (2009) Style w architekturze. Arcydzieła budownictwa europejskiego od antyku po czasy współczesne. [Baustilkunde], pp. 444, 468, 497. Baraniewski W., Kunkel R., Omilanowska M., Sito J., Zięba A., Żak K. trans. Warszawa: Świat Książki.

PWN (2007). Słownik terminologiczny sztuk pięknych, p. 156. Kubalska-Sulkiewicz K., Bielska-Łach M., Manteuffel-Szarota A. eds. Wydanie piąte. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN.

DICTIONARY, LETTER S

Sabil (or Sebil), a Drinking Fountain in Islamic Cities

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In Muslim architectural tradition, a public well or water supply (tap), sometimes with a fountain. When it is to provide water for drinking, the sabil is rarely a free-standing construction, usually a part of a larger building, and sometimes the part with a fountain forms an alcove in the wall. “[Water from the sabil] has freely been dispensed to members of the public either by an attendant behind a grilled window” (“Sebil (fountain)” 2020) or by a tap for drinking.

As water reservoirs, “sebils are structures of both civic and religious importance in [Islamic] cities; [they] were built at crossroads, in the middle of city squares, and on the outside of mosques and other religious complexes to provide drinking water for travelers and to assist ritual purification (ablutions) before prayer” (“Sebil (fountain)” 2020). As such they were usually free standing and overbuilt with richly decorated architectural structures.

Featured image: The sabil in the courtyard (sahn) of the mosque of Muhammad Ali in Cairo. It serves a ritual purification (ablutions) before prayer. Photo by Sailko (2016). CC BY-SA 3.0. Colours intensified. Photo source: Wikimedia Commons.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

“Sebil (fountain)” (2020). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia. Available at <https://bit.ly/3soowfE>. [Accessed 23rd February, 2021].

Photo: The sabil in the courtyard (sahn) of the mosque of Muhammad Ali in Cairo. Photo by Sailko (2016). CC BY-SA 3.0. In: Wikimedia Commons. Available at <https://bit.ly/37CGfIj>. [Accessed 23rd February, 2021].

PWN (2007). Słownik terminologiczny sztuk pięknych, p. 369. Kubalska-Sulkiewicz K., Bielska-Łach M., Manteuffel-Szarota A. eds. Wydanie piąte. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN.

DICTIONARY, LETTER R

Rabad – a Wide Trade Craft Suburbs of the Arabic Countries

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A suburb of eastern cities with private buildings, craft workshops and others. In Muslim Spain, a district of the city where no military crew was stationed. Rabad first developed in the cities of Central Asia, in the twelfth century AD., however, the term mostly refers to a suburb of the city in the Arab countries of North Africa. There ‘rabad’ is mostly regarded as the periphery “and ‘non-elite’ quarters or neighborhoods” (Ennahid, UCLA Global 2008) as it has always been situated further away from the urban center than the so-called ‘elite’ quarters, clustered around it.

Therefore, the contemporary ‘rabad’ “designates a residential neighborhood located at the periphery of cities, [reserved for crafts], and occupied by the marginalized [or poorest citizens]” (Ennahid, UCLA Global 2008).

Featured image: A bird’s eye view of Fez. Urban areas with trade craft suburbs, situated further away from the city center (usually a medina quarter) are referred to as ‘rabad’. Copyright©Archaeotravel.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Ennahid S., UCLA Global (2008). “From Rabad to Habitat Social: An Urban-Cultural History of the Suburbs of Fez”. Abstract of paper to be presented by Said Ennahid, Al-Akhawayn University at the conference: “Fez, Morocco, Crossroads of Knowledge and Power: Celebrating 1,200 Years of Urban Life” In: UCLA Global. International Institute. Available at <https://bit.ly/3dDycPk>. [Accessed 23rd February, 2021].

PWN (1997-2021). Słownik terminologiczny sztuk pięknych, p. 341. Kubalska-Sulkiewicz K., Bielska-Łach M., Manteuffel-Szarota A. eds. Wydanie piąte. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN

PWN (2007). “Rabad”. In: Encyclopedia PWN: Literatura i sztuka. Available at <https://bit.ly/37FRHTT>. [Accessed 23rd February, 2021].

DICTIONARY, LETTER S

Stoa in Ancient Greek Architecture

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The term has derived from Greek. Plural: stoas, stoai, or stoae.

It is hall structure, commonly designed for public use. “Early stoas were open at the entrance with columns, usually of the Doric order, lining the side of the building” (“Stoa” 2021). Simultaneously, they had a wall at the back, often with doors leading to added warehouses. As such, “they created a safe, enveloping [and] protective atmosphere” (Ibid.). In the architecture of ancient Greek cities, stoa had been in existence since the fifth century BC.

“Later examples were built as two stories, and incorporated inner colonnades usually in the Ionic style, where shops or sometimes offices were located. These buildings were open to the public; merchants could sell their goods, artists could display their artwork, and religious gatherings could take place” (“Stoa” 2021).

Athens: the Stoa of Attalos (the Museum of the Ancient Agora) and the Church of the Holy Apostles, as seen from Acropolis hill. Photo by A.Savin (Wikimedia Commons · WikiPhotoSpace) – Own work (2013). CC BY-SA 3.0. Photo and caption source: “Stoa of Attalos” (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.

In Hellenistic times, stoas ran around the four sides of the market, creating a kind of peristyle with a shady roofed portico. “Stoas usually surrounded the […] agora of large cities and were used as a framing device” (“Stoa” 2021). They were usually erected in the courtyards of gymnasiums and palaestras. They also surrounded port pools, closed a pier or ran as covered walkways along roads. Other examples were designed to create safe, protective atmospheres which combined useful inside and outside space.

The most famous is the stoa of Poikile (Stoa Poecile), situated on the north side of the Ancient Agora of Athens. It was covered with famous paintings, and therefore it was also called the ‘Painted Stoa’. It is mostly famous of the philosopher Zeno of Citium (335-263 BC.), who met his followers there and taught, He was a Hellenistic thinker who founded the Stoic school of philosophy. Consequently, “[the] name of the Stoic school of philosophy [has derived] from ‘stoa'” (“Stoa” 2021).

Featured image: View of the Stoa Amphiaraion. By J. M. Harrington, personal digital image (2007). CC BY 2.5. Photo and caption source: “Stoa” (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

“Stoa” (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia. Available at <https://bit.ly/3urJqMz>. [Accessed on 7th May, 2021].

“Stoa Poikile” (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia. Available at <https://bit.ly/3enNJ62>. [Accessed on 7th May, 2021].

“Stoa of Attalos” (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia. Available at <https://bit.ly/2Rv8VxS>. [Accessed on 7th May, 2021].

Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy IEP (2021). “The Stoa”. In: Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy IEP. Fieser J., Dowden B. eds. Available at <https://iep.utm.edu/stoa/>. [Accessed on 7th May, 2021].

PWN (2007). Słownik terminologiczny sztuk pięknych, p. 389. Kubalska-Sulkiewicz K., Bielska-Łach M., Manteuffel-Szarota A. eds. Wydanie piąte. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN.