Construction as Depicted in Western Art: From Antiquity to the Photograph

by Michael Tutton

Amsterdam University Press, 2021
eISBN: 978-90-485-3259-9

ABOUT THIS BOOK | TOC

ABOUT THIS BOOK

The Art of Building has captured the interest of artists from the Roman period to today. The process of construction appears in western art in all its details, trades, and operations. Michael Tutton investigates the representation of building processes and materials through an examination of paintings, illuminated manuscripts, watercolours, prints, drawings and sculpture. Technical terms are explained and detailed interpretations of each work are provided, with insights into the artists' inspiration and themes. Even paintings not wholly or principally devoted to construction sites may give tantalising glimpses of building activity. How do these images convey meaning? How much is imagined; how much is authentic? Fully referenced endnotes, bibliography, and glossary complement the text and captions, informing not only the architectural and construction historian, but also those simply interested in art.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Cover

Acknowledgements

Table of Contents

List of Figures

Scope

Current Literature and Sources

Layout of the Book

Figure I: Gherardo Mechini (?), 1601, The dome of Florence cathedral: Scaffolding and hoisting devices used in 1601 to repair lightning damage to the lantern, drawing, pen, brown ink and wash, 248A, Gabinetto Disegni e Stampe, Galleria degli Uffizi, Flore

Access: Scaffolding, Ladders and Ramps, the Raw Materials

Figure 2: 1390-1400, Gathering poles from coppicing, Master Wenceslas, Bohemian, Month of December, Cycle of Months, fresco, Torre Aquila, Buonconsiglio Castle, Trento, Italy. De Agostini Picture Library, A De Gregorio / Bridgeman Images.

The Evidence for Early Scaffolding, Ladders and Ramps to the End of the Sixteenth Century

https://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/zearly/1/2mural/5vialati/latina7.html.

Figure 4: 890-900, French (West Franconian Empire?), Building a Church, The Golden Psalter (Psalterium aureum) of St. Gall, St. Gallen, Stiftsbibliothek, Cod. Sang. 22, p.64.

Figure 5: 1050-1150, English, Building of the Tower of Babel, Old English Hexateuch, London, British Library, Cotton MS Claudius B IV, f. 19r.

Figure 6: Building a Tower, eleventh century, Frankish or Italian, from Rabanus Maurus, De Universo, cod.132, f. 394, Romanesque edition of the Carolingian original. (Abbey of Monte Cassino, Italy)

Figure 7: c.1244-1254, French, Construction of the Tower of Bable, illumination from the ‘Morgan’. Bible possibly commissioned by Louis IX before embarking on his first crusade in 1248, The Morgan Library and Museum, New York. MS M638, f. 3r. Purchased by

Figure 8: 1260-1270, Holy Land (Acre ?), Construction of Rome, from ‘Histoire ancienne jusqu’à César’, ms. 0562, f. 009, Bibliotheque Municipale de Dijon, France.

Figure 9: Unknown artist, Building the Tower of Babel, 1385, German, Bavaria, illustration from the Weltchronik (Chronicle of the World) by the Austrian epic poet Rudolf von Elms. An illuminated manuscript page: Shelf mark: 2 º Ms. Theo. 4 f. 28r Universi

Figure 10: French, Construction of a Fortress, page from a manuscript in the Bibliotheque Nationale de France. Mary Evans Picture Library.

Figure 11: Italian, Naples, 1325-1350, Building of Lavinium, from Histoire Ancienne Jusqu’à César, © British Library Board, London, Royal MS 20 DI, f. 202v.

Figure 13: Italian, Naples, 1325-1350, Rebuilding of Troy, from Histoire Ancienne Jusqu’à César, © British Library Board, London, Royal MS 20 DI, f. 192v.

Figure 15a: Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Italian, active 1319-†1348/9, Detail The Effects of Good Government in the City, 1338/9, Fresco, Palazzo Pubblico, Siena, Italy. (Jim Forest Creative Commons)

Figure 15b: Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Italian, active 1319-†1348/9, The Effects of Good Government in the City, 1338/9, Fresco, Palazzo Pubblico, Siena, Italy. (Jim Forest Creative Commons)

Figure 16: French, Tower of Babel, c.1250, from a Bible Historiale, Rylands Collection, MS 5, f. 16r. The John Rylands Library, University of Manchester.

Figure 17: French, Construction of the Tower of Babel, 1300-1325, Bible Historiale, Bibliotheque de l’abbaye de Clairvaux, ms. 0059, f. 017.

Figure 18: French, 1300-1325, A King supervising the building of a church, from Estoire del Saint Graal, part of Royal MS 14 E III, f. 85v. London © The British Library Board.

Figure 19: French, first half of the fourteenth century, Charlemagne orders the construction of a church (Aix-la-Chapelle), from the Grande Chroniques de Saint Denis, Bibliotheque Municipale de Toulouse, ms. 0512, f. 096r.

Figure 20: French, first quarter fifteenth century (pre-1416), Limbourg Paul, Jean and Hermann, Building in Jerusalem, from Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, ms.65, f. 49v, Musee Conde, Chantilly, France.

Figure 21: French, first quarter fifteenth century (pre-1416), Limbourg Paul, Jean and Hermann, The Building of the Jerusalem Temple, from Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, ms.65, f. 35v, Musee Conde, Chantilly, France.

22.06: 1250-1300, MS. 0005, f. 150v. Bibliotheque Municipale de Toulouse.

22.12: c.1270, MS.Ludwig 1 8, v3, f. 256v. Digital image courtesy of the Getty’s Open Content Programe.

Figure 23: Flemish, c.1480, Loyset Liédet, Construction of Alexandria, from History of Alexander the Great, Paris, Bibliotheque National ms. Fr 2247, f. 76r.

Figure 24: French late fifteenth to early sixteenth century, Charlemagne visiting the construction of Aix la Chapelle in 796, illustration from Grandes Chroniques de France, edition by Antoine Vérard, hand-painted print in a incunabulum. (Biblioteca Nazio

Figure 25a: Jacopo Bellini, c.1400-1470, Italian, The Bearing of the Cross, c.1450, drawing, silver point, pen and brown ink on parchment. (Musée du Louvre, Paris)

Figure 25b: Jacopo Bellini, c.1400-1470, Italian, detail, The Bearing of the Cross, c.1450, drawing, silver point, pen and brown ink on parchment. (Musée du Louvre, Paris)

Figure 26: 1443, Domenico di Bartolo, Italian, c.1400-c.1445, La Limosina del Vescovo, fresco, Spedale di Santa Maria della Scala. Siena, Italy. Archive photograph, Fondazione Zeri, Universita di Bologna, Italy.

Figure 28: 1444-1461, Flemish (Bruges), Saint Bathilde et la construction d’une eglise, illumination from La Legende Doreé, ms. 0003, f. 145. Bibliotheque Municipale de Mâcon, France.

Figure 29: 1466/7, Flemish, The Construction of Rome, illumination from Romuléon, ms. 0850, f. 001. Bibliothèque Municipale de Besançon, France.

Figure 30a and detail 30b: c.1440, Follower of Robert Campin, Flemish, The Virgin and Child before a Firescreen, 63.4 × 48.5 cm, oil with egg tempera on oak panel, The National Gallery, London.

Figure 31b: Detail of figure 31a.

Figure 32: South Netherlandish, Master of the Joseph Sequence, St Barbara Directing the Construction of a Third Window in Her Tower, 98 × 35.4 cm, oil on panel. Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.

Figure 33: (Detail) South Netherlandish, Master of the Joseph Sequence, St Barbara Directing the Construction of a Third Window in Her Tower, 98 × 35.4 cm, oil on panel. Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.

Figure 34: 1471-1481, Austrian, Michael Pacher, c.1435-1498, St Wolfgang Heals the Possessed Woman, Lower right-hand panel of the workday (closed) aspect of the St Wolfgang Altarpiece, 173 × 140 cm, oil on panel. St Wolfgang Church, Salzkammergut, Austria

Figure 35: Flemish, c.1478, St Barbara, illumination from a Book of Hours, Latin ms. 39, f. 151r. Rylands Collection, University of Manchester.

Figure 36: Bruges Master of 1482, Flemish, French manuscript c.1480, Building a house, from Petrus de Crescentiis, Ruralia Commodorum, additional MS 19720, f. 27. © The British Library Board, London.

Figure 37: Southern Netherlands (Ghent?), c.1500, The Building of the Tower of Babel, from a Book of Hours, the ‘London Rothschild Hours’ or the ‘Hours of Joanna 1 of Castile’, f. 34r, © The British Library Board, Add MS 35313.

Figure 38: 1505-1508, Giovanni Antonio Bazzi, called Il Sodoma, Italian, Benedict Founds Twelve Monastries, from a series of frescoes depicting the Life of St Benedict, Abbey of Monte Olieveto Maggiore, Asciano, Italy. Archive photograph c.1895, Fratelli

Figure 39a: 1509-1510, Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, known as Raphael, 1483-1520, The Disputa, fresco, Stanza della Segnatura, Vatican Palace, Rome. Archive photograph, c.1920, by Giacomo Brogi, Fondazione Zeri, Universita di Bologna, Italy.

Figure 39b: 1509-1510, Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, known as Raphael, 1483-1520, detail, The Disputa, fresco, Stanza della Segnatura, Vatican Palace, Rome. Archive photograph, c.1920, by Giacomo Brogi, Fondazione Zeri, Universita di Bologna, Italy.

Figure 40: Master of James IV of Scotland or Gerard Horenbout, Elijah Begging for Fire from Heaven, 1510-1520, Flemish, Ghent or Bruges, from the Spinola Hours, Ms Ludwig IX 18, f. 32. (The J Paul Getty Museum, digital image courtesy of the Getty’s Open C

Figure 41a: 1520-1525, Netherlandish (Antwerp Mannerist) Painter, A Sermon on Charity (possibly the Conversion of St Anthony), 85.1 × 58.4 cm, oil on panel. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, OASC.

Figure 41b: detail of scaffolding.

Formwork

Figure 42a: Abraham Bloemaert, Dutch, 1566-1651, Tobias and the Angel, c.1600, oil on canvas. (State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg. Photograph © The State Hermitage Museum, Photo by Vladimir Terebenin)

Figure 42b: Abraham Bloemaert, detail of figure 42a.

Figure 43: Northern French, second half of the sixteenth century, Caradoc et la Construction de la Porte Cardon à Valenciennes, from Recueil des Antiquites de Valenciennes, BM de Douai, France, ms 1183, f. 018. © Institut de recherché et d’histoire des te

Figures 44a and 44b: 1563, details of Figure 166: Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Flemish, 1525-1569, The Tower of Babel, showing some of the formwork on this huge site. Oil on Oak panel. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna: KHM-Museumsverband.

Figure 45: Anton Möller, Rebuilding of a Temple by King Joash, 1602, Gdansk, oil on board, 129 × 326 cm, inv. No.: MNG/SD/494/M © Muzeum Narodowe, Gdansk, Poland.

Figure 46: Johannes Lingelbach, Dutch, Dam Square, Amsterdam, with the new City Hall under construction, c.1650, oil on canvas, 122.5 × 206 cm, inv. No.: SA 3044, Amsterdam Museum, Netherlands.

Figure 47: Attributed to Jacob van der Ulft, previously attributed to Johannes Lingelbach, Dam Square with the City Hall under construction, c.1650, oil on canvas, 81 × 100 cm, inv. No.: SB 1175, Amsterdam Museum, on loan Rijksmuseum Amsterdam.

Figure 48: Michele Marieschi, Italian, 1710-1744, Entrance to the Arsenale, Venice, 1741, engraving, sheet 311 × 470 mm. Fondazione Federico Zeri, Bologna, Italy.

Figure 49: Placido Costanzi, Italian, 1702-1759, Alexander the Great Founding Alexandria, oil on canvas, 46.3 × 65 cm. Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.

Figure 50: Samuel Scott, English, 1702-1772, An Arch of Westminster Bridge, oil on canvas, 135.7 × 163.8 cm, Tate Gallery, London.

Figure 51: Alcoves of Old Westminster Bridge, from Walter Thornbury, ‘The River Thames: Part 2 of 3’, in Old and New London: Volume 3, London, 1878, p.300, engraving. Author’s collection.

Figure 52: R D Chantrell, View of part of the New Infirmary at Chelsea Hospital, October 1810, pen and watercolour. By Courtesy of the Trustees of Sir John Soane’s Museum.

Figure 54 R D Chantrell, View of part of the New Infirmary at Chelsea Hospital, October 1810, pen and watercolour. By Courtesy of the Trustees of Sir John Soane’s Museum.

Figure 56: R D Chantrell, View of part of the New Infirmary at Chelsea Hospital, October 1810, pen and watercolour. By Courtesy of the Trustees of Sir John Soane’s Museum.

Figure 58: R D Chantrell, View of part of the New Infirmary at Chelsea Hospital, October 1810, pen and watercolour. By Courtesy of the Trustees of Sir John Soane’s Museum.

Figure 59: Samuel Jackson, English, 1794-1868, House in Castle Green, pencil and watercolour on paper, 214 × 175mm. Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery, Bequest of William J Braikenridge, 1908. Bridgeman Images.

Figure 60: 1779, English, 1743-1801, Westgate, Winchester, oil on canvas, Manchester Art Gallery, Bridgeman Images.

Figure 62: Detail, Joseph Walter, English 1783-1856, A View from Portishead towards Wales, c.1832, oil on canvas, 48.2 × 63.5 cm. Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery, given by James Fuller Eberle, 1921. Bridgeman Images.

Figure 63: George Scharf, German, 1788-1860, Laying the Foundations of the Lycian Room, the British Museum, dated 1845, but drawn earlier, watercolour over graphite on paper. © The Trustees of the British Museum

Figure 64: George Scharf, German, 1788-1860, Building the New Gallery of the British Museum, dated 1828, graphite (with ink and wash?) on paper. Private Collection. Bridgeman Images.

Figure 65: George Scharf, German, 1788-1860, Accident of a rope breaking when hoisting a girder at the building of the Lycian Room of the British Museum, 1844, graphite on paper. © The Trustees of the British Museum

Figure 66: George Scharf, German, 1788-1860, Raising of the girders at the College of Surgeons, 1835(?), graphite on paper. © The Trustees of the British Museum

Figure 67: George Scharf, German, 1788-1860, New Covent Garden Market Building taken from Southampton Row, 1829, graphite on paper. © The Trustees of the British Museum

Figure 69: Eduard Gaertner, German, 1801-1877, The Friedrichsgracht, Berlin, c.1830, oil on paper laid down on millboard, 25.5 × 44.6 cm. The National Gallery, London.

Figure 70: Eduard Gaertner, German, 1801-1877, Klosterstrasse mit der Parochialkirche, 1830, oil on canvas, 32 × 44 cm. bpk, Nationalgalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin / Jörg P Anders.

Figure 71: Eduard Gaertner, German, 1801-1877, Detail, Klosterstrasse mit der Parochialkirche, detail of Figure 70, 1830, oil on canvas, 32 × 44 cm. bpk, Nationalgalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin / Jörg P Anders.

Figure 72: Cologne Cathedral in 1875, wood engraving, drawn by H Toussaint, engraved by Antoine Valerie Bertrand, from a photograph by Johann Heinrich Schonscheidt. Author’s collection.

Figure 73: 1410-1414, Master of the Cité de Dames, French, Rectitude leading Christine and other worthy women into the city, from Christine de Pizan, Collected Works (‘The Book of the Queen’), Harley ms 4431, f. 323r. © The British Library Board, London.

Figure 74: c.1445, Pesellino (Francesco di Stefano), 1422-1457, Italian, The Construction of the Temple of Jerusalem, tempera on panel, 53.5 × 60.3 cm. (Harvard Art Museum/Fogg Museum, Friends of the Fogg Art Museum Fund, 1916.495. Imaging Department © Pr

Figure 75: Bedford Master, Construction of Noah’s Ark, c.1410-1430, from a book of hours of the use of Paris (The Bedford Hours), Add MS 18850, f. 15v. © The British Library Board, London.

Figure 76: Hieronymus Rodier, Germany, d. 1539, Perspective: Carpenters Building a House, woodcut published 1531. Württembergische Landesbibliothek, Stuttgart, Germany.

Figure 77: c.1480, The Master of Margaret of York, Flemish, active 1470-1480, The Construction of a Villa, from Pierre de Crescens, Rustican. Arsenal MS. 5064, f. 2. Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France.

Figure 78: English School, early eighteenth century, Prospect of Littlecote House from the South, oil on canvas. (1.269) © Royal Armouries.

Figure 79: English School, early eighteenth century, details, Prospect of Littlecote House from the South, oil on canvas. (1.269) © Royal Armouries.

Figure 81: Detail of Figure 165, 1515-1520, Piero de Cosimo, Italian, 1462 -1521, The Building of a Palace, 83 × 197 cm, oil on panel, The Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, Florida, USA: Bequest of John Ringling, 1936, Collection of The John and Mabel Rin

Figure 82: Ercole d’ Roberti, Italian, active 1479-d.1496, The Israelites gathering Manna, one of two panels from a Predella, 28.9 × 63.5 cm, tempera on canvas, transferred from wood. (NG 1217, London, The National Gallery)

Figure 83: 1876, Illustration from F. Streich and K. de Gerstenberg, Méthode d’enseignement par l’aspect les métiers et leurs outils, chomolithograph, published 1876, Paris, editions Bonhoure. Mary Evans Picture Library.

Figure 84: c.1402, Lorenzo di Niccolo, Italian, active 1391-1412, St Fina saves the life of a carpenter who fell from the roof of a church he was building, oil or tempera on wood panel, lower right-hand panel of the Santa Fina Altarpiece, Museo d’Arte Sac

Accidents and Misadventures

Figure 85: 1450s, Antonio Vivarini, Italian, active by 1441-d.1476/84, Saint Peter Martyr Healing the Leg of a Young Carpenter, 53 × 33.3 cm, tempera and gold leaf on wood panel, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, OASC.

Roman Cranes

Figure 86: Second Century, Rome, Italy, one of two surviving reliefs from the Mausoleum of the Haterii showing a tread-wheel crane and tombs, originally located on the Via Labicana, now destroyed, carved stone. Vatican Musuems: Greforiano Profano Museum,

Figure 87: Capua, Italy, Second Century, detail, carved stone relief, part of a sarcophagus, showing a tread-wheel crane lifting a column with a mason carving a capital. Museo Provinciale Campano di Capua, Sarcofagi (Sala III-IV). Photograph: Dan Diffenda

Figure 88: 1260-1270, Holy Land, Acre (before the fall of Acre in 1291) Construction of the Tower of Babel, from ‘Histoire Ancienne jusqu’à César’, ms. 0562, f. 009, Bibliotheque Municipale de Dijon, France.

Figure 89: c.1330-1340, Italian, Naples, Rebuilding of Troy, illumination from Histoire Ancienne Jusqu’à César. Royal MS 20 DI, f. 41r. London, The British Library.

Figure 90: German c.1370, Construction of the Tower of Babel, from Rudolf von Ems / Jansen Enikel, Jans: Weltchronik in Versen – Mischhandschrift aus Christ-herre-Chronik. Bayerische Staatsbibliothek München, BSB Cgm 5, f. 29r.

Figure 91: 1390-1400, German, Building the Tower of Babel, Wenceslas Bible, Commissioned by King Wenceslas IV of Bohemia, 1361-1419. Cod. 2759, f. 10v, Osterreichische Nationalbibliothek, Vienna.

Figure 92: Left: The Perronet crane of the mid eighteenth century, from Diderot, Denis and le Rond d’Alembert, Jean-Baptiste, editors, 1751-72, Encyclopédie, ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers, etc., Paris, fig. 7, plate XLVII.

Figure 93: 1563, detail of Figure 166: Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Flemish, 1525-1569, The Tower of Babel, Large dockside type crane and simple ‘T’ hoist, oil on Oak panel. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna: KHM-Museumsverband.

Figure 94: 1563, detail of Figure 166: Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Flemish, 1525-1569, The Tower of Babel, treadwheel with simple hoist alongside, oil on Oak panel. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna: KHM-Museumsverband.

Figure 95: 1587, German, unknown master, The Tower of Babel, oil or tempera on panel. Z 2249, Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg.

Figure 96: Cologne, c.1455-1460, Legend of St Ursula, Arrival in Cologne and St Ursula’s dream, inside lid of a relic casket, tempera on softwood, 54 × 89 × 248 cm. Collection of Ferdinand Franz Wallraf. WRM 0715. Wallraf-Richartz-Museum & Fondation Corbo

Figure 97: 1489, Hans Memling, Flemish, The Arrival of St Ursula at Cologne, Reliquary of St Ursula. Hans Memling Museum, Bruges. Photo: Peter Horree/Alamy Stock Photo.

Figure 98: 1684, Jan van der Heyden, Netherlands, 1637-1712, A Street Scene in Cologne, 31.6 × 0.6 cm, oil on oak panel, The Wallace Collection, London.

Figure 99: 1407, Spinello Aretino (Spinello di Luca Spinelli), Italian, 1345/52-1410, The History of Pope Alexandia III: Construction of the Town of Alexandria, Fesco, Palazzo Pubblico, Siena, Italy. Archive photograph, Fondazione Zeri, Universita di Bolo

Figure 100: 1400-1410, unknown German Master, Regensburg, Bavaria, The Construction of the Tower of Babel, from the Weltchronik, manuscript illumination. 88.MP.70.13, MS. 33, f. 13. J Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles. Digital image courtesy of the Getty’s O

Figure 101: Bedford Master, The Building of the Tower of Babel, detail of Figure 144, from a Book of Hours of the use of Paris (The Bedford Hours), © The British Library Board, London, Add. MS 18850, f. 17v.

Figure 102: 1645-1648, Eustache le Sueur, French, 1616-1655, St Bruno orders the Construction of the Monastery, 193 × 130 cm, oil on canvas, Musee du Louvre, Paris.

Figure 103: c.1450, Apollonio di Giovanni, Italian, 1415/17-1465, Aeneas at Carthage, 49.7 × 161.9 cm, tempera on panel, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut. University purchase from James Jackson Jerves, 1871.35. Open access image.

Figure 105: Apollonio di Giovanni, Italian, Meeting of Dido and Aeneas and the Construction of the Medici Palace, miniature from Vergilius Publius Maro, Bucolicon, Georgicon, Aeneis, 1460-1465. Palazzo Medici Riccardi, Biblioteca Riccardiana, Florence, ms

Figure 106: c.1460, Master of San Miniato (attributed), detail of Figure 154 The Victory of Alexander the Great and the Building of the City of Alexandria, 51 × 160 cm, oil (?) on panel, originally produced for the front of a wedding chest, Ca’ d’Oro, cat

Figure 107: 1457-1468, Giovanni Bettini da Fano, c.1450-?, Il tempio malatestiano di Rimini under construction, a temple designed by Leon Battista Alberti, miniature from Basini parmensis, Hesperis, Book XIII, code: Ms 52 B L, f. 126r, Bibliotheque de L’A

Figure 109: Flemish, c.1480, Loyset Liédet, detail of Figure 23, Construction of Alexandria, from History of Alexander the Great, Paris, Bibliotheque National ms. Fr 2247, f. 76r.

The Mobile Crane

Figure 110: c.1480, French, details, a) left, of Figure 140, Construction of the City of Enoch, and b) right, of Figure 141, Construction of the Tower of Babel, illuminations from ‘La Cité de Dieu’, ms 0002, folios 065, and 094 respectively. Bibliotheque

Figure 111: George Scharf, German, 1788-1860, detail of Figure 66, Raising of the girders at the College of Surgeons, 1835, graphite on paper. © The Trustees of the British Museum

Figure 113: George Scharf, German, 1788-1860, Mode of conveying the iron girders from Pimlico to the College of Surgeons, 1835, graphite on paper. © The Trustees of the British Museum

Figure 114: George Scharf, German, 1788-1860, detail of Figure 67, New Covent Garden Market Building taken from Southampton Row, 1829, graphite on paper. © The Trustees of the British Museum

Figure 115: 1876, detail of Figure 83, Illustration from F. Streich and K. de Gerstenberg, Méthode d’enseignement par l’aspect les métiers et leurs outils, chomolithograph, published 1876, Paris, editions Bonhoure. Mary Evans Picture Library.

Figure 116: Childe Hassam, American, The Hovel and the Skyscraper, 1904, oil on canvas, 88.26 × 78.74 cm. Acc. No. 2003.1.5 Courtesy of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia. The Vivian O and Meyer P Potamkin Collection. Bequest of Vivia

Ancient Egypt

Figure 117: Masons levelling and squaring blocks of stone, Tomb of Rakhmire, Thebes, c.1450BCE, woodcut, drawn and copied from the original, from Sir John Gardner Wilkinson, A Popular Account of the Ancient Egyptians, 1854, London, John Murray, p.313 (Wik

Figure 118: Nina de Garis Davies (1881-1965), Sculptors at Work, Tomb of Rakhmire, 1927, facsimile painting from the original at the Tomb of Rakhmire, Thebes. Tempera on paper, 54 × 38.5cm. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Rogers Fund, 1930. (Public

Figure 119: Brick makers, tomb of Rakhmire, Thebes, Sheikh Abd el-Qurna. Photograph, November 2016. (Kairoinfo4u, https://www.flickr.com/photos/manna4u/32513653582) (Creative Commons: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/)

Figure 120: Soldiers building forts, Trajan’s Column, Rome, stone bas-reliefs. Photographed by Conrad Cichorius published in Die Reliefs der Traianssäule, Vol. 1, Die Reliefs des Ersten Dakischen Krieges, 1896, Verlag von Georg Reimer, Berlin, top, plate

https://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/zearly/1/2mural/5vialati/latina7.html

Figure 123: Flemish miniature Flemish Converts Building a Church under the Supervision of St. Amand, from the manuscript The First Life of St. Amand, produced in the Abbey of Saint Amand in 1066-1107. (Bibliotheque Municipale de Valenciennes, France, ms.

Figure 124: Mosaic artist active 1180s, Monreale Cathedral, building the Tower of Babel. Archive photograph c.1910-1940, Fratelli Alinari. Fondazione Zeri, Universita di Bologna, Italy.

Figure 125: Mosaic artist active in the twelth century, Basilica of San Marco, Venice, building the Tower of Babel. Archive photograph c.1910-1940, Fratelli Alinari. Fondazione Zeri, Universita di Bologna, Italy.

Figure 126: French, thirteenth century Bible, Cyrus orders the rebuilding of the temple of Jerusalem: Historiated initial ‘I’ (Bibliotheque Municipale de Amiens, France, MS. 0021, f. 167v.)

Figure 127: Studio of Blanche, French, 1220-1230 Bible, Cyrus orders the rebuilding of the temple of Jerusalem: Historiated initial ‘I’ MS 1185, f. 127v Bibliotheque St Genevieve, Paris, France.

Figure 128: Pietro Lorenzetti, Saint Humility Transports Bricks to the Convent She is Building, c.1341, Tempera on wood app. 40 × 30 cm, part of the now incomplete Beata Umiltà Altarpiece, Uffizi, Florence. (Archive photograph by Brogi, 1900/40, Fondazion

Figure 129: Construction of Rome, late thirteenth century, before the fall of Acre in 1291, French, from Historie Ancienne Jusqu’a Cesar, © The British Library Board, London, Add. Ms 15268, f. 156r.

Figure 130: Master of the Rouen Echevinage, active 1455-1485, French, Construction of the Temple of Jerusalem from the manuscript Histoire d’Outremer, written by the chronicler and Archbishop of Tyre c.1130-1186. Bibliotheque Nationale de France, ms 2629

Figure 131: Early fifteenth Century, French, Construction of the Abbey of St Denis, illumination from the Grandes Chroniques de France, ms. 0863, f. 056v. Bibliotheque Municipale de Besançon, France.

Figure 132: Master of the Cité de Dames, French, Construction of Thebes and Cadmus killing the dragon at Ares’s spring, 1410-1414, from Christine de Pizan, Collected works (‘The Book of the Queen’). © The British Library Board, London, Harley ms 4431, f.

Figure 133: Master of the Cité de Dames, French, Christine de Pizan before the personifications of Rectitude, Reason, and Justice in her study, with Christine and Reason building the ‘Cité des dames’, 1410-1414, from Christine de Pizan, Collected works (‘

Figure 134: Master of Girart de Roussillon, Burgundian, active 1440-1465, Construction of twelve churches by Girart and his wife, c.1460. Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Vienna, ms Cod. 2549, f. 164r (E 28.568-C)

Figure 135: Apollonio di Giovanni, Italian, Meeting of Dido and Aeneas and the Construction of the Medici Palace, miniature from Vergilius Publius Maro, Bucolicon, Georgicon, Aeneis, 1460-1465. Palazzo Medici Riccardi, Biblioteca Riccardiana, Florence, ms

Figure 136: c.1465, Jean Fouquet, 1420-1481, or the Master of the Munich Boccaccio, active 1460-1480, under the former’s supervision (probably one of his sons), Solomon Supervises the Construction of the Temple, from Josephus, Antiquites Judaiques. French

Figure 137: 1466-1467, Flemish, The Construction of Rome, from the ‘Romuléon’. Bibliothèque Municipale de Besançon, France, ms 0850, f. 050.

Figure 138: 1467-1470, attributed to Jacques de Besançon, French, active c.1460-1500, The Origins of Rome, from Ab Urbe condita. Bibliothèque municipale de Tours, ms. 0984, f. 001.

Figure 139: 1475-1500, Master of the Echevinage de Rouen (also known at the Master of the Geneva Latini), French, Construction of Venice, Sycambria, Carthage and Rome, from the Chronique de la Bouquechardiè. © The British Library Board, London, Harley MS

Figure 140: c.1480, French, Construction of the City of Enoch, illumination from ‘La Cité de Dieu’, Bibliotheque Municipale de Macon, France, ms 0002, f. 065.

Figure 141: c.1480, French, Construction of the Tower of Babel, illumination from ‘La Cité de Dieu’, Bibliotheque Municipale de Macon, France, ms 0002, f. 094.

Figure 142: 1490s, Jean Colombe, French, c.1430-c.1493, Rebuilding of Troy by Priam, from Recueil des Histories de Troie, 0000649 bpk / Kupferstichkabinett, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin / Jörg P Anders.

Figure 143: 1411, French, Bible Historiale, Building of the Tower of Babel. © The British Library Board, London, Royal ms 19 DIII, f. 16r.

Figure 144: Bedford Master, The Building of the Tower of Babel, from a Book of Hours of the use of Paris (The Bedford Hours), © The British Library Board, London, Add. MS 18850, f. 17v.

Figure 145: 1515-1520, Gerard Horenbout, or the Master of James IV of Scotland, Flemish, Tower of Babel, from the Grimani Breviary, ms. Lat. I, 99, f. 206r. Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, Venice.

Figure 146: 1498, Attributed to (or Studio of) Master of the Echevinage de Rouen, French, Construction of a town, from the Bréviaire of Charles de Neufchâtel, ms. 0069, p.129, Bibliotheque municipale de Besançon, France.

Figure 147: Late fifteenth Century, French, Building a tower or fortress, from a ‘Book of Hours’ ms. 0107, f. 020v, Bibliotheque municipale de Amiens

Figure 149: 1488-1489, Bernardino Butinone, Italian, 1435/6-c.1507, A Palace under Construction, detail of Figure 150, illumination from ‘Trattato d’Architettura’ by Antonio Filarete. Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, Venice, ms. Lat. cl.VIII, 2 (-2796) f. 5

Figure 150: 1488-1489, Bernardino Butinone, Italian, 1435/6-c.1507, A Palace under Construction, illumination from ‘Trattato d’Architettura’ by Antonio Filarete. Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, Venice, ms. Lat. cl.VIII, 2 (-2796) f. 5r.

Figure 151: 1430-32, Stefano di Giovanni, called il Sassetta, Italian, c.1392-c.1451, Altarpiece Madonna delle Nevi, 240 × 216cm, panel, formally in Siena Cathedral, Uffizi, Florence. Anonymous archive photograph, c.1950, Fondazione Zeri, Universita di Bo

Figure 152: 1430-32, Stefano di Giovanni, called il Sassetta, Italian, c.1392-c.1451, Construction of the Church which became Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome, second panel from the right of the predella of the Altarpeice Madonna delle Nevi, 31 × 27.5 cm, panel

Figure 153: 1437, Jan van Eyck, Flemish, 1380/1400-1441, Saint Barbara, 41.2 × 27.6 cm (including original frame), black ink and oil on panel, signed and dated on frame, Royal Museum for Fine Arts, Antwerp © www.lukasweb.be – Art in Flanders vzw, photo Hu

Figure 155: c.1460, Master of San Miniato (attributed), detail of Figure 154, The Victory of Alexander the Great and the Building of the City of Alexandria, 51 × 160 cm, oil (?) on panel, Ca’ d’Oro, Galleria Franchetti, Venice.

Figure 156: 1471-1481, Austrian, Michael Pacher, c.1435-1498, Saint Wolfgang and Helper Building the Church of St Wolfgang, Lower left-hand panel of the workday (closed) aspect of the St Wolfgang Altarpiece, 173 × 140 cm, oil on panel. St Wolfgang Church,

Figure 157: c.1489, Andrea Mantegna, Italian, 1431-1506, Madonna of the Grotto, 29 × 21.5 cm, tempera on panel, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.

Figure 158: c.1489, Andrea Mantegna, Italian, 1431-1506, Madonna of the Grotto, detail of Figure 157, 29 × 21.5 cm, tempera on panel, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

Figure 159: 1474, Andrea Mantegna, Italian, 1431-1506, The Arrival of Cardinal Francesco Gonzaga, fresco west wall, ‘Camera degli Sposi’, Ducal Palace, Mantua, Italy. GNU Free Documentation Licence.

Figure 160: 1474, Andrea Mantegna, Italian, 1431-1506, The Arrival of Cardinal Francesco Gonzaga, detail of marble quarry workings, fresco, west wall, ‘Camera degli Sposi’, the Ducal Palace, Mantua, Italy. Palazzo Ducale, Mantua, Lombardy, Italy, Mondador

Figure 161: 1500-1533, Northern French, Scenes from the life of St Bertin, oil on wood panel, pair of doors to the treasury of the Abbey of St. Bertin at St. Omer, © Musee des Beaux-Arts de Dijon. Photo Hugo Martens.

Figure 162: 1500-1533, Northern French, Construction of the Abbey of St Bertin at St Omer, oil on wood panel, lower panel of the right hand leaf of the doors to the treasury of the Abbey. © Musee des Beaux-Arts de Dijon. Photo Hugo Martens.

Figure 163: c.1505, Rueland Frueauf the Younger, Austro German, 1470-1547, Margrave Leopold III (St Leopold) Inspecting the Construction of Klosterneuburg Abbey, 76 × 39 cm, tempera on panel, Monastery of Klosterneuburg, Austria.

Figure 164: 1505-1508, Giovanni Antonio Bazzi, called Il Sodoma, Italian, Life of St Benedict: Benedict Appears in the Dreams of Two Monks, from a series of frescoes depicting the Life of St Benedict, Abbey of Monte Olieveto Maggiore, Asciano, Italy. Arch

Figure 165: 1515-1520, Piero de Cosimo, Italian, 1462 -1521, The Building of a Palace, 83 × 197 cm, oil on panel, The Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, Florida, USA: Bequest of John Ringling, 1936, Collection of The John and Mabel Ringling Museum of Art,

Figure 166: 1563, Peter Bruegel the Elder, Flemish, 1525-1569, The Tower of Babel, oil on Oak panel, 114 × 155cm. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna: KHM-Museumsverband.

Figure 167: c.1680, Adam-François van der Meulen, Flemish, 1632-1690, Construction of the Chateau de Versailles, 103 × 138.5 cm, oil on canvas, Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2016.

Figure 168: c.1725, Giovanni Antonio Canal, called Canaletto, Italian, 1697-1768, The Stonemason’s Yard, 123.8 × 162.9 cm, oil on canvas, The National Gallery, London.

Figure 169: Samuel Jackson, English, 1794-1868, A View from the Park Place across Whiteladies Road to the Royal Fort, Bristol, 1824, 202 × 253mm, watercolour. Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery, Bequest of William J Braikenridge, 1908. Bridgeman Images.

Figure 170: 1802, Johann Christoph Frisch, German, 1738-1815, Friedrich II, King of Prussia and the Marquis d’Agens visit the Construction of the Palace of Sanssouci at Potsdam, oil on canvas, 91 × 74.5cm. Stiftung Presußishe Schlösser und Gärten Berlin-B

Figure 171: 1852-1863, Ford Madox Brown, English, 1821-1893, Work, oil on canvas, 137 × 197.3 cm, Manchester Art Gallery, UK/Bridgeman Images.

Figure 172: 1824-5, Joseph Mallord William Turner, 1775-1851, Kirkstall Lock, on the river Aire, watercolour on paper, 159 × 235mm. Turner Bequest, 1856, CCVII L, © Tate, London 2016.

Figure 173: 1876, Illustration from F. Streich and K. de Gerstenberg, Méthode d’enseignement par l’aspect les métiers et leurs outils, chomolithograph, published 1876, Paris, editions Bonhoure. Mary Evans Picture Library.

Figure 174: 1482, Assistant to the Master of the Flemish Boethius and/or the Master of Edward IV, South Netherlands (Bruges), Miners at Work in a Quarry, from Bartholomaeus Anglicus, translated by Jean Corbechon, De proprietatibus rerum (Livre des proprie

Figure 176: c.1620, Peter Paul Rubens, Flemish, 1577-1640, Landscape with Stone Carriers, 86 × 126.5cm, oil on canvas transferred from panel. State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg, Russia/Bridgeman Images.

Figure 177: 1786, Francisco Jose de Goya y Lucientes, Spanish, 1746-1828, Transporting a Stone Block, 127 × 169cm, oil on canvas. Private Collection/Bridgeman Images

Figure 178: Before 1690, David Teniers the younger, 1610-1690, Brickmakers near Hemiksem, 43.8 × 67cm, oil on panel. DPG57, by permission of the Trustees of Dulwich Picture Gallery, London.

Figure 180: Seventeenth century, David Teniers the Younger, Flemish, 1610-1690, A Lime Kiln with Figures, oil on canvas, 58.5 × 88cm. Apsley House, The Wellington Museum, London, UK © Historic England/Bridgeman Images.

Figure 181: Late eighteenth century-early nineteenth century, Patrick Nasmyth (attributed) 1787-1831, or Charles Towne, 1763-1840, Lime Kilns, oil on panel, 23.3 × 30.9 cm, Museum of Barnstable and North Devon, UK.

Figure 183: 1816, William Turner of Oxford, English, 1789-1862, Gravel Pit on Shotover Hill, near Oxford, 17 × 40 cm, oil on board, ©Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford.

3. The Smith

The Blacksmith on the Building Site

Figure 185: 1563, Peter Bruegel the Elder, Flemish, 1525-1569, The Tower of Babel, detail of Figure 166, oil on Oak panel, 114 × 155cm. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna: KHM-Museumsverband.

Figure 186: c.1200, the smith Regin forges the sword Gram (Grani) for Sigurd son of Sigmund. Carved wood door portal from Hylestad Stave Church, now demolished, University of Oslo Museum, Oslo, Norway. Photo: Author.

Figure 187: 1630, Velazquez, Diego Rodriguez de Silva y, Spanish, The Forge of Vulcan, oil on canvas, 223 × 290cm, Prado, Madrid, Spain. Photo © Photo Josse/Bridgeman Images

Adam Dürr, a Nuremberg Blacksmith

Figure 188: 1327-1335, The Smith’s Wife Forges Nails for the Crucifixion, © The British Library Board, Add Ms 47682 f. 31r.

Figure 189: Second or third quarter of the fourteenth century, Blacksmith and Striker Forging a Piece of Iron, Georgius Fendulus, Liber Astrologiae. © The British Library Board, Sloane Ms 3983 f. 5r (detail).

Figure 190: 1550-1791, House book of the Mendelian Twelve Brothers Foundation, Vol. 2, Nuremberg, 75-Amb-2-317b, f. 72r. Stadtbibliothek im Bildungscampus Nürnberg, Amb. 317b.2°, f. 72r.

Figure 191: Francisco de Goya y Lucientes, Spanish, 1746-1828, The Forge (La Fragua), oil on canvas, 181.6 × 125.1 cm. Copyright The Frick Collection, New York, Henry Clay Frick Bequest.

Conclusion

Figure 193: Wooden scaffolding in Gondar, Ethiopia in 2017. (Richard Wiseman)

Figure 194: Carver working with an axe in modern Palermo. http://www.artofmaking.ac.uk/content/essays/2-stoneworking-tools-and-toolmarks-w-wootton-b-russell-p-rockwell/ (accessed 14/02/2019)

Notes

Glossary of Technical Terms

Bibliography

Index

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