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The rose window at
Lausanne [1231–35] in the south facade is
considered to be one of the most important roses
in Europe, together with those at Notre Dame in
Paris and at Chartres. The Lausanne South Rose was
made by a wandering artist from Picardy, Pierre
d’Arras, and is related in style and iconography
to that of the Laon workshop.
In medieval times, a rose window was round like
the universe. This Imago Mundi, summing
up all human knowledge, is seen in the spectacular
early rose window in Lausanne cathedral. The stone
tracery was built in about 1205, while the glass
was placed in about 1230.
Keyed
diagram of the South Rose window [1]
|
analysis
of a stained glass story window at Rouen
Dax
and church iconography |
The diagram above shows the present-day arrangement
of the enormous Lausanne rose, which has a diameter of
eight metres, or twenty-six feet. In
the list below, panels marked with an asterisk were replaced
during its 1909 restoration.
The window is arranged in concentric ‘circles’.
In the middle diamond, the central panel
is surrounded by four allegories of the creation.
Next, reading outwards, come four semicircular
lobes containing the four seasons accompanied
by the appropriate months.
Next at the compass points, come four
circles. Each circle contains two panels referring to
the four elements and, on the inner side, three signs
of the zodiac panels (summing to twelve).
Towards the outside, at the X-points,
the arcs illustrate the four rivers of paradise.
And flying around the outside are the
eight winds.
More detail is available below.
Although the central panel now shows a creation scene,
originally there was a personification of the Year, Annus.
Note that other than the replaced central panel, there
is no Christian iconography in this rose, unlike the 13th-century
roses at Chartres.
Central panels: Creator, light and
dark, land and water, birds and fishes, animals and men
[n°s 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
:
centre, top left, top right, bottom left, bottom right]
In the small central square [diamond]:
2 Light and dark* 3 Land and sea*
1 The Creator*
4 Fish and birds* 5 Animals and men *
In the four semicircles:
[n°s 12, 11, 6, 10 :
top left, top right, centre, bottom right]
12 May, on a white horse, carries his falcon to the
hunt
11 April, wearing a toque, flowers in hand, opens the
door to his garden
6 Spring, a man surrounded by flowers and leaves
and holding a flower
10 March, wearing a cotton turban-like hat, pruning the
vines
[n°s 14, 13, 7, 15 :
top left, top right, centre, bottom left]
14 July, reaps the harvest with a sickle
13 June, incorrectly labelled JULIUS, cuts the hay
7 Summer, red rays warming the blue sky
15 August, stripped to the waist, threshes the harvest
under a baking sun
[n°s 16, 8, 17, 18 :
top left, centre, bottom left, bottom right]
16 September, harvesting the grapes
8 Autumn, amid the red and white grapes
17 October, tending his pigs while they eat acorns (and
hunt for truffles?)
18 November, the month of cattle and pig slaughter
[n°s 21, 9, 19, 20 :
top right, centre, bottom left, bottom right]
21 February, warming his hands*
9 Winter, dressed in white and hooded, weathers
a storm of icicles
19 December, raising his glass to death, symbolises the
year that has gone*
20 January, a double-headed Janus figure, with one hand
holding up his cup to
the bountiful
year ahead, the other looking at the year that has passed
The four elements and the zodiac:
Earth surrounded by Aeromancy, Scorpio,
Libra and Saggitarius
[n°s 33, 40, 22, 32,
34 :
top, centre left, centre, centre right, bottom]
33 Libra
40 Aeromancy, surrounded by seven doves by whom she foretells
the future
22 Earth, a woman surrounded with ears of corn
32 Scorpio
34 Saggitarius
Water surrounded by the Moon, Aquarius,
Capricorn and Pisces
[n° 35, 36, 23, 37,
39 :
top, centre left, centre, centre right, bottom ]
35 Capricorn
36 Aquarius
23 Water, breastfeeding a fish
37 Pisces
39 The moon being drawn across the sky in a chariot but
with only two horses
Air surrounded by Pyromancy, Gemini,
Aries and Taurus
[n°s 28, 26, 24, 41, 27 :
top, centre left, centre, centre right, bottom ]
28 Gemini
26 Aries
24 Air, breastfeeding a dragon
41 Pyromancy, foretelling the future from the flames of
the fire
27 Taurus
Fire surrounded by the Sun, Virgo,
Cancer and Leo
[n°s 38, 25, 31, 29,
30 :
top, centre left, centre, centre right, bottom]
38 The sun
with a fiery halo being drawn across the sky in a chariot
25 Fire, feeding a salamander
31 Virgo
29 Scorpio
30 Leo
26-37 The signs of the zodiac portrayed in usual medieval
style;
(27, 29, 34 and 36 are replacements)
The four rivers of Paradise, illustrated
as bearded men pouring their waters across the four corners
of the earth. they are ‘accompanied’ by various
peoples and creatures:
42 The Geon (Nile)
43 The Tigris
[N°s 20, 50, 44, 51
this is a sample of the rivers and peoples groups :
top left circle : January,
bottom right circle: Phison (Ganges)
top right hemisphere : Pygmies
bottom left hemishere : a Satyr]
44 The Phison (Ganges)
45 The Euphrates
46 Ethiopians, with four eyes to help the accuracy of
their archery
47 Gangaridae, inhabitants of the Ganges who supposedly
lived off the sweet smell of fruit - and died in the presence
of any foul odour
48 Acephali, creatures with no heads and with eyes in
their bodies
49 Cynocephali, dog-headed men, thought to live in India
50 Pygmies, also thought to inhabit India, here fighting
a crane
51 A Satyr, a small hook-nosed creature with horns and
goat-like feet
52 Sciapodes, creatures that lived in the desert and had
only one foot, which they used as a sunshade*
53 Cephi, elusive creatures detectable only by their human-like
footprints
The eight winds:
54 Auster, the south wind
55 Euroauster, the south-east wind
56 Subsolanus, the eastern wind of the Levant
57 Vulturnus, the south-east wind
58 Septentrion, the north wind
59 Corus, the north-west summer wind
60 Zephyr, the west wind
61 Austerozephyr, the south-west wind
end notes
- This
diagram and the key are from
 |
The rose
window, splendour and symbol by Painton
Cowen
Thames and Hudson [UK], hbk, 2005
276 pages, 350 illustrations, 300 in colour
ISBN-10: 0500511748
ISBN-13: 978-0500511749
£29.99 [amazon.co.uk]
$63.75 [amazon.com]
Previously, Painton Cowen also wrote
Rose windows (Art & Imagination)
pbk, 1990
ISBN-10: 0500810214
ISBN-13: 978-0500810217
amazon.com / amazon.co.uk |
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Le Mans and Bourges cathedrals - medieval space technology 
