10. MAIN CHAPEL
After having discussed matters which almost all deal with the exterior of the church, we must still speak of the interior, and above all of the high altar and the main chapel.
The site of this chapel must be chosen at the head of the church, in a prominent place and on an axis with the main entrance. The back part should face east, even if there are houses behind it. It must not face to the east of the summer solstice, but towards that of the equinox.{1}
If this is not possible, the Bishop can decide and permit that it be built facing another direction, but in this case care must be taken at least that if possible it does not face north, but south.
In any case the chapel in which the priest celebrates Mass from the high altar facing the people, in accordance with the rites of the Church, must face west.{2}
The chapel will be vaulted, and properly ornamented with mosaics or some other illustrious pictorial or architectural decoration, corresponding to the characteristics and dignity of the church being built.
Its floor will be higher than that of the church,{3} in relation to its placement and the type of church to which it belongs. If this is a parish church, it will be higher, at the least, by eight ounces, or at the most by one cubit. If it is a collegiate or cathedral church, or a major parish church, it will be higher by no less than a cubit, and no more than a cubit and sixteen ounces. Where however the place called confessio is situated [underneath], the criteria applied to the height of the floor will be adequately and aptly dependent on the height of the confessio.
The steps leading up to the main chapel will be in marble, or strong stone, or brick if marble or stone are not plentiful, in an odd number, that is one, three, five, or more, depending on the height. Each step should not be more than eight ounces high, and not less than sixteen ounces or more than one cubit wide. If the height of the chapel floor is less than one cubit, three steps, of equal height, will be built. If instead it is approximately more than one cubit there will be five steps. If then, because of the confessio, it is much higher than one cubit, there will be as many steps as necessary, as long as they are always uneven in number, and will have the same height, in proportion to the number of ounces constituting the whole height of the pavement, but they must never be higher than eight ounces.
NOTES
Chapter X, pp.
- .The Apostolic Constitutione is a fourth-century work of eight distinct treatises describing religious discipline and liturgical attitudes. In the second treatise of this work there is designation of specific areas for the bishop, deacons or presbyters, lectors, and laity.
And first, let the building be of oblong shape with its head to the east….In the middle, let the bishop’s throne be placed, and on each side of him let the presbyters sit down; … let the laity sit on the other sides with all quietness and good order. Let women sit by themselves….In the middle, let the reader stand upon some high place. (a)
In the architecture of the early church buildings, the chancel was higher than the rest of the basilica floor and was generally located at the far east end of the nave, opposite the main door. Traditionally it terminated in a semi-circular apse at the end of which stood the bishop’s throne with simple stone benches on either side for the clergy (Figs. 10.5, 10.6). If the bishop’s throne stood against the back wall of the basilica, the altar (required to be under a canopy-like structure supported by four columns (called a ciborium) was placed between the throne and the people. The altar faced the people as a result of the
(a) Constitutio Apostolorum, II, 57, 2-4.
hierarchical arrangement of the church, and when the bishop approached the altar he naturally stood at the side closest to his throne facing the people. In Romanesque churches the chancel was still elevated above the level of the nave, but its height depended upon the crypt below (Fig. 10.7). The closer the altar was put to the rear wall, the more necessary it became that this wall itself should have significance, hence mosaics and frescoes.
Orientation towards the east was preferred but not always adhered to, and Renaissance theorists indicate a practical flexibility. Serlio, for example (whose treatise was in Borromeo’s library), wrote that “as to the position of the temple, the ancients placed the altar towards the sun of the east, regarding which we Christians do not follow; but in whatever place the church is built, the façade is put towards the piazza on the more ‘noble’ street” (Serlio cited by Barocchi, p. 437). similarly Borromeo, at the fourth Provincial Council in 1576, wrote: Curet omino ita illam aedificari, ne ab antiquo more, probataque traditione discedatur, ut sacerdos in altari maiori Missam celebrans Orientam spectet.