{{short description|Ornamental molding or band following the curve on the underside of an arch}} {{Distinguish|Voussoir}} {{wikt | archivolt}} [[File:Chartres - south portal - central bay - tympan.jpg|300px|thumb|Archivolts on the South Portal of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Chartres, Chartres, France.]] An '''archivolt''' (or '''voussure''') is an ornamental moulding or band following the curve on the underside of an arch.<ref>{{cite web|title= Archivolt|url= http://buffaloah.com/a/DCTNRY/a/archivolt.html|website= Buffalo as an Architectural Museum|publisher= buffaloah.com|access-date= 12 August 2016}}</ref><ref name=ching> {{cite book | last = Ching| first = Francis D.K.| title = A Visual Dictionary of Architecture| publisher = John Wiley & Sons, Inc.| year = 1995| location = New York| page = 12| isbn = 0-471-28451-3 }} </ref> It is composed of bands of ornamental mouldings (or other architectural elements) surrounding an arched opening, corresponding to the architrave in the case of a rectangular opening. The word is sometimes used to refer to the under-side or inner curve of the arch itself (more properly, the ''intrados''). Most commonly archivolts are found as a feature of the arches of church portals. The mouldings and sculptures on these archivolts are used to convey a theological story or depict religious figures and ideologies of the church in order to represent the gateway between the holy space of the church and the external world.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kendall |first1=Calvin |title=The Allegory of the Church: Romanesque Portals and Their Verse Inscriptions |date=2016 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |location=Toronto |isbn=9781442680487 |page=33 |chapter=Portal Inscriptions, Liminal Transformation, and the Creation of Sacred Space}}</ref> The presence of archivolts on churches is seen throughout history, although their design, both architecturally and artistically, is heavily influenced by the period they were built in and the churches they were designed for.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Low |first1=Peter |title=Innovation and Spiritual Value in Medieval Monastic Art: The Case of the Main Narthex Portal at Vézelay |journal=The Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies |date=2012 |volume=42 |issue=3 |page=657 |doi=10.1215/10829636-1720616}}</ref>
==Etymology== The word originates in the Italian (or French) equivalents of the English words ''arch'' and ''vault''.
==Structural features== Archivolts are usually found as a part of a church portals, on the underside of the arches above the tympanum, bracketing the lintel and ending on the jamb columns, each archway usually has several layered archivolts. While this basic structure and placement of archivolts is usually present, the specific artistic features of archivolts change frequently as a result of when and where they were designed and what kind of church they are a feature of.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Low |first1=Peter |title=Innovation and Spiritual Value in Medieval Monastic Art: The Case of the Main Narthex Portal at Vézelay |journal=The Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies |date=2012 |volume=42 |issue=3 |page=657 |doi=10.1215/10829636-1720616}}</ref> The shape of the arch is an example of this, in Gothic portals a pointed archway is iconic, while in Romanesque portals a rounded archway is to be expected.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Schmidt |first1=Alvin |title=Gothic Church Architecture |journal=The Encyclopedia of Christian Civilization |date=2012}}</ref> These rounded and pointed features are also seen inside the church, where Gothic churches have pointed vaults, and Romanesque churches have rounded ones.
==Evolution of archivolts== Archivolts first became a feature on the entrance of churches in France and Spain during the Reconquest.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Abel |first1=Mickey |title=Within, Around, Between: Micro Pilgrimage and the Archivolted Portal |journal=Hispanic Research Journal |date=2009 |volume=10 |issue=5 |pages=385–416 |doi=10.1179/146827309X12541437923748 |s2cid=194031839 |url=https://doi.org/10.1179/146827309X12541437923748|url-access=subscription }}</ref> They are believed to have evolved as a compressed version of the nave of a church,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Abel |first1=Mickey |title=Within, Around, Between: Micro Pilgrimage and the Archivolted Portal |journal=Hispanic Research Journal |date=2009 |volume=10 |issue=5 |pages=385–416 |doi=10.1179/146827309X12541437923748 |s2cid=194031839 |url=https://doi.org/10.1179/146827309X12541437923748|url-access=subscription }}</ref> the moldings of the layered arches depicting a theological journey from outside the church to the sacred atmosphere inside it.
The use of stone sculpture on the outside of churches was first widely seen in the eleventh century.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kendall |first1=Calvin |title=The Allegory of the Church : Romanesque Portals and Their Verse Inscriptions |date=2016 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |location=Toronto |isbn=9781442680487 |page=53 |chapter=I am the Door}}</ref> The later utilisation of these mouldings and sculptures is depicted by Calvin Kendall, “[Church Portals] concerned themselves with the spiritual well-being of worshippers, and they served to create and delineate sacred space.”<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kendall |first1=Calvin |title=The Allegory of the Church: Romanesque Portals and Their Verse Inscriptions |date=2016 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |location=Toronto |isbn=9781442680487 |page=33 |chapter=Portal Inscriptions, Liminal Transformation, and the Creation of Sacred Space}}</ref> The use of portals and the mouldings on their archivolts as a separation between the outside public domain and the holy space inside a church was an innovative idea to communicate knowledge about the church and theology observed inside.
As demonstrated by Rudolph Conrad, this evolution in the utilisation of church architecture came about simultaneously with the significant advances of categorising, maintaining and sharing large amounts of information that was happening in the twelfth century.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rudolph |first1=Conrad |title=Inventing the Gothic Portal: Suger, Hugh of Saint Victor, and the Construction of a New Public Art at Saint-Denis |journal=Art History |date=2010 |volume=4 |issue=33 |page=573 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-8365.2010.00767.x}}</ref> The application of this in the design of archivolts is shown through the complex theological stories and messages that are represented by the detailed design of many archivolts.
==Historical context== ===Romanesque=== [[File:Eglise Marignac Romanesque portal Charente-Maritime.jpg|thumb|Romanesque portal with rounded archivolts on Saint-Sulpice church in Paris]] The complexity of church portals and the subsequent significance of their mouldings and the designs of their archivolts was first observed on a wide scale on Romanesque churches, seen primarily in the eleventh century through to the early thirteenth century.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kendall |first1=Calvin |title=The Allegory of the Church : Romanesque Portals and Their Verse Inscriptions |date=2016 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |location=Toronto |isbn=9781442680487 |page=51 |chapter=I am the Door}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Fletcher |first1=Margaret |last2=Polley |first2=Robbie |title=Architectural Styles: A Visual Guide |date=2021 |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton |isbn=9780691213781 |page=80|chapter=Medieval and Renaissance}}</ref> The Romanesque period of church architecture is when stone sculpture began to become a common feature of church portals, specifically the use of Christ, on the archivolts and surrounds to signify the beginning of holy space.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kendall |first1=Calvin |title=The Allegory of the Church : Romanesque Portals and Their Verse Inscriptions |date=2016 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |location=Toronto |isbn=9781442680487 |page=53 |chapter=I am the Door}}</ref> Romanesque portals and archivolts are most often rounded, as seen in Roman architecture.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Fletcher |first1=Margaret |last2=Polley |first2=Robbie |title=Architectural Styles: A Visual Guide |date=2021 |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton |isbn=9780691213781 |page=80|chapter=Medieval and Renaissance}}</ref> This was significant to the role of the church as both a building and congregational place as during the medieval Romanesque period most people were not able read, so these sculptures were able to depict important events central to the Christian faith and convey ideologies of the church that the public may have otherwise been unable to understand.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Leisinger |first1=Hermann |title=Romanesque Church Portals |journal=Graphis |date=1958 |volume=14 |issue=75 |page=73}}</ref>
===Gothic=== [[File:Thann Church - full view of portal of west façade.jpg|thumb|Gothic Portal with pointed archivolts on St Theobald's Church in Thann]] Gothic architecture, predominately found between in mid-twelfth century and the sixteenth century<ref>{{cite book |last1=Fletcher |first1=Margaret |last2=Polley |first2=Robbie |title=Architectural Styles: A Visual Guide |date=2021 |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton |isbn=9780691213781 |page=86|chapter=Medieval and Renaissance}}</ref> was the successor to Romanesque architecture, and is often viewed as the birth of Christian architecture.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Schmidt |first1=Alvin |title=Gothic Church Architecture |journal=The Encyclopedia of Christian Civilization |date=2012 |page=1}}</ref> This is seen in the symbolism of both the artistic and architectural features of Gothic portals and their archivolts. The classic pointed arch of Gothic portals and archivolts is used to direct people’s eyes above, to heaven, a constant reminder of the presence of God and an encouragement to focus on the sacred and heavenly aspects of life, and not the earthly ones.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Scott |first1=Robert A. |title=The Gothic Enterprise : A Guide to Understanding the Medieval Cathedral |date=2011 |publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley |isbn=9780520949560 |pages=109–121}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Schmidt |first1=Alvin |title=Gothic Church Architecture |journal=The Encyclopedia of Christian Civilization |date=2012 |page=2}}</ref>
==Notable examples== ===Saint-Denis Cathedral=== The Saint-Denis Cathedral is a French cathedral, known as one of the founding examples of Gothic Christian architecture,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Blum |first1=Pamela |title=Early Gothic Saint-Denis: Restorations and Survivals |date=1992 |publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley |page=1}}</ref> it was designed by Abbott Suger in the twelfth century and constructed during the thirteenth century.<ref>{{cite web |title=History of the Monument |url=http://www.saint-denis-basilique.fr/en |website=Basilique Cathédrale de Saint-Denis}}</ref> While it is generally accepted that the portals on the west facing side of Saint-Denis cathedral have most of the Early Gothic architectural features,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Blum |first1=Pamela |title=Early Gothic Saint-Denis: Restorations and Survivals |date=1992 |publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley |page=1}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=History of the Monument |url=http://www.saint-denis-basilique.fr/en |website=Basilique Cathédrale de Saint-Denis}}</ref> as claimed by Pamela Blum, there is still some debate about whether the cathedral is more accurately characterised as Gothic or Romanesque<ref>{{cite book |last1=Blum |first1=Pamela |title=Early Gothic Saint-Denis: Restorations and Survivals |date=1992 |publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley |page=1}}</ref> due to the multiple restorations that have been done on the Cathedral in varying artistic and architectural styles since it was built. <gallery mode="packed" heights="235px"> File:Saint-Denis Basilique Saint-Denis Portal Tympanon 2.jpg|Central Portal on the West Facade of the Saint Denis Cathedral File:Saint-Denis Basilique Saint-Denis Fassade 6.jpg|West Facade of the Saint Denis Cathedral </gallery> The west-side of the cathedral is home to three church portals, all of which contain archivolts. In 1140 these three portals and the west-end of Saint-Denis Cathedral were consecrated.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Conrad |first1=Rudolph |title=Inventing the Gothic Portal: Suger, Hugh of Saint Victor, and the Construction of a New Public Art at Saint-Denis |journal=Art History |date=2010 |volume=4 |issue=33 |page=569 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-8365.2010.00767.x}}</ref> The archivolts of the Saint-Denis Cathedral are one of the earliest examples of the use of complex sculptures and inscriptions on church entrances as a means of communication in Gothic churches.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Conrad |first1=Rudolph |title=Inventing the Gothic Portal: Suger, Hugh of Saint Victor, and the Construction of a New Public Art at Saint-Denis |journal=Art History |date=2010 |volume=4 |issue=33 |page=569 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-8365.2010.00767.x}}</ref> As the archivolts of Saint-Denis Cathedral were designed in the very early stages of Gothic architecture, there are still instances of features that characterise Romanesque architecture such as the use of drapery<ref>{{cite book |last1=Blum |first1=Pamela |title=Early Gothic Saint-Denis: Restorations and Survivals |date=1992 |publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley |pages=1–2}}</ref> in the sculptures of the portal.
===The Sainte-Anne Portal, Notre Dame=== Sainte-Anne portal situated on the west facade of the Notre Dame was built in Paris during the twelfth century<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Clark |first1=William |last2=Ludden |first2=Franklin |title=Notes on the Archivolts of the Sainte-Anne Portal of Notre-Dame de Paris |journal=Gesta |date=1986 |volume=1 |issue=25 |page=109 |doi=10.2307/766904|jstor=766904 |s2cid=193477348 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Saint Anne Portal |url=https://www.friendsofnotredamedeparis.org/cathedral/artifacts/portals/saint-anne-portal/ |website=Friends of Notre-Dame de Paris|date=13 April 2022 }}</ref> in honour of Sainte-Anne, Mary’s Mother and Jesus Christ’s Grandmother. The portal displays some of the different aspects of Jesus Christ’s life,<ref>{{cite web |title=Saint Anne Portal |url=https://www.friendsofnotredamedeparis.org/cathedral/artifacts/portals/saint-anne-portal/ |website=Friends of Notre-Dame de Paris|date=13 April 2022 }}</ref> like his Grandparents Anne (whom the portal is dedicated to) and Joachim, and his parents Mary and Joseph. The archivolts of the Saint-Anne portal are pointed, a classic feature of Gothic archways. The archivolts are lined with several small sculptures of people, these sculptures have been identified as coming from both the twelfth and thirteenth century.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Clark |first1=William |last2=Ludden |first2=Franklin |title=Notes on the Archivolts of the Sainte-Anne Portal of Notre-Dame de Paris |journal=Gesta |date=1986 |volume=1 |issue=25 |page=109 |doi=10.2307/766904|jstor=766904 |s2cid=193477348 }}</ref> Several restorations have been performed on the Saint-Anne archivolts, which was discovered as a result of the slightly varying stylistic features of the archivolts and colour differences in the stone the archivolt is made of.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Clark |first1=William |last2=Ludden |first2=Franklin |title=Notes on the Archivolts of the Sainte-Anne Portal of Notre-Dame de Paris |journal=Gesta |date=1986 |volume=1 |issue=25 |page=110 |doi=10.2307/766904|jstor=766904 |s2cid=193477348 }}</ref> These sculptures on the portal and its archivolts depict specific people that were significant to the church and the community it served, both as religious icons, and figures of societal power at the time of its design, such as King Louis VIII, bishops involved with the church,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cahn |first1=Walter |title=The Tympanum of the Portal of Saint-Anne at Notre Dame de Paris and the Iconography of the Division of the Powers in the Early Middle Ages |journal=Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes |date=1969 |volume=32 |issue=32 |pages=58–59 |doi=10.2307/750607 |jstor=750607 |s2cid=192346327 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/750607|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Jesus and several members of his family. <gallery mode="packed" caption="Detail on the Archivolts of Sainte-Anne Portal" heights="190px"> File:Paris - Cathédrale Notre-Dame - Portail Sainte Anne - PA00086250 - 030.jpg File:Paris - Cathédrale Notre-Dame - Portail Sainte Anne - PA00086250 - 068.jpg File:Paris - Cathédrale Notre-Dame - Portail Sainte Anne - PA00086250 - 093.jpg File:Paris - Cathédrale Notre-Dame - Portail Sainte Anne - PA00086250 - 018.jpg File:Paris - Cathédrale Notre-Dame - Portail Sainte Anne - PA00086250 - 016.jpg </gallery>
===Vézelay Abbey=== The Vézelay Abbey was built in France in the ninth century on a hill in the village of Vézelay by Benedictine Monks and became a UNESCO world heritage site in 1979.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ullrich |first1=James |title=Vezelay Abbey: Sacred Site of Pilgrimages and Crusades |journal=Renaissance Magazine |date=2014 |volume=19 |issue=6 |page=33}}</ref> This classification is due to its well preserved Burgundian Romanesque art and its importance as a religious site to Christians in the Middle Ages.<ref>{{cite web |title=Vézelay, Church and Hill |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/84 |website=UNESCO World Heritage Centre}}</ref> The portal has a rounded arch, classic to the Romanesque style and is densely populated with many different sculptures and mouldings. The artwork on the Vézelay Abbey’s portal depicts messages and figures such as scenes from the Book of Acts, Christ, Apostles and John the Baptist.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Low |first1=Peter |title=Innovation and Spiritual Value in Medieval Monastic Art: The Case of the Main Narthex Portal at Vézelay |journal=The Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies |date=2012 |volume=42 |issue=3 |page=658 |doi=10.1215/10829636-1720616}}</ref> The sculptures and mouldings on the portal’s archivolts display events of the Pentecost, from the Book of Acts, {{Blockquote |text=The peripheral figures of the archivolt compartments and the lintel blocks are divided into Jews on the left, led by Peter holding the keys just to the left of Christ, and gentiles on the right, led by Paul seated immediately to the right of Christ. That the gentile audience of the passage is frequently enjoined to enter the Church in a state of peace is also visualized, through the depiction of the leading (gentile) figure on the right lintel relinquishing his sword blade-downward, in an emphatically pacifist gesture.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Low |first1=Peter |title=Innovation and Spiritual Value in Medieval Monastic Art: The Case of the Main Narthex Portal at Vézelay |journal=The Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies |date=2012 |volume=42 |issue=3 |page=663 |doi=10.1215/10829636-1720616}}</ref> |author=Peter Low (2012) }} The Benedictine Monks that founded the Vézelay Abbey claimed that the remains of Mary Magdalene were found there, which made it a site of significant religious importance and consequently it became a popular site for pilgrims.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ullrich |first1=James |title=Vezelay Abbey: Sacred Site of Pilgrimages and Crusades |journal=Renaissance Magazine |date=2014 |volume=19 |issue=6 |page=33}}</ref> The arrival of pilgrims and the subsequent increased notoriety led to vast renovations, resulting in its complex and grand artistic style.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ullrich |first1=James |title=Vezelay Abbey: Sacred Site of Pilgrimages and Crusades |journal=Renaissance Magazine |date=2014 |volume=19 |issue=6 |page=33}}</ref> The importance of what is happening at the time of a portal’s construction, as well as its church’s intended audience is demonstrated by the design of the portal’s tympanum, which contains a large sculpture of Jesus Christ in its centre, with Magdalene depicted facing Christ at his feet.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rudolph |first1=Conrad |title=Macro/Microcosm at Vézelay: The Narthex Portal and Non-elite Participation in Elite Spirituality |journal=Speculum |date=1 July 2021 |volume=96 |issue=3 |page=650 |doi=10.1086/714579|s2cid=235598978 |doi-access=free }}</ref> This highlights the significance of the Abbey’s purpose as a pilgrimage site to its design. <gallery mode="packed" heights="240px"> File:Basilique Sainte-Marie-Madeleine de Vézelay PM 46659.jpg|A Portal of the Vézelay Abbey File:Vézelay, Westfassade.jpg|Facade of the Vézelay Abbey </gallery>
==Gallery== <gallery mode="packed"> File:France Strasbourg Cathedral Tympanum.jpg|Archivolts and tympanum from Strasbourg Cathedral, France File:Archivolts-speyer-cathedral.jpg|Entrance into Speyer Cathedral, Germany Portalada de les Cadenes de la catedral d'Oriola.JPG|Gateway into Orihuela Cathedral in Orihuela, Spain Entrance into the central church of the Church of St. John the Precursor from the gallery (Prokudin-Gorsky).jpg|A 1911 image showing the central church of the Church of St. John in Yaroslavl, Russia File:Santa Maria de Sixena.JPG|14 archivolts enclose the Romanesque entranceway into the Monastery of Santa María de Sigena in Aragon, Spain </gallery>
==Footnotes== {{reflist}}
{{commons category|Archivolts}}
==References== *[http://www.pitt.edu/~medart/menuglossary/archivolt.htm University of Pittsburgh, Glossary of Medieval Art and Architecture]
Category:Arches and vaults Category:Architectural elements