Stripes in Florentine architecture


SienaCath-4

I loved the arches I saw in Florence, especially those that rise out of the columns and spread out geometrically at the ceiling. And, the gray and white stripes, WOW! See the photos of my favorite interior at the Cathedral in Siena (above). Were the stripes meant to be decorative? The Santa Maria Novella and the Santa Trinita Churches in Florence (see photos below) also had gray and white stripes on their columns in certain areas, but neither one of them were quite so pronounced as the Siena Cathedral.Santa Maria Novella

Santa Trinita

After enjoying these gray and white stripes in the Florence churches, I realized there must be a pattern (no pun intended), so I looked it up.

Here’s what I found out.

It seems the Italian Gothic style of architecture used different shades of stone to exaggerate the buildings’ breadth — an early example of how they used stripes to manipulate architectural appearances. There was also a practical reason for the stripes. Alternating layers of brick and stone were often used to reinforce the wall structure, by tying the outer skin of the wall to its interior (often brick) fill. This method had other advantages, too: when quality stone was scarce or expensive, it could be selectively introduced between bands of inferior material (brick or stone) to strengthen the wall. And, while this composite construction may be grounded in principles of structure and economy, its decorative effect cannot be ignored. This may explain the medieval Italian use of stripes over entire building surfaces.

The stripes are not painted, they are composed of different layers of stone.

Stripes evoke an interesting reaction.

Another interesting twist to the use of stripes is their deceptive connotation, which is why they went out of style in architecture after awhile. Sometimes you see stripes in Renaissance clothing. Even today, most of us today still associate stripes with a strong sense of marginality, fraudulence and deception. And, while the sentiments attributed to striped surfaces have oscillated significantly over many centuries, Pastoureau* notes that stripes never entirely lost their connection to deception. This can be witnessed even today in the familiar representations of clowns, tricksters and criminals in striped attire.

*Michel Pastoureau, The Devil’s Cloth: A History of Stripes

In this setting, I think they are beautiful!

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