14. MINOR CHAPELS AND ALTARS
Up to now brief mention has been made of the high altar and main chapel and the accessories. Other instructions must still be given separately, regarding the minor chapels and altars, as well as those things common to major and minor chapels, which will be given eventually.
(h) Annali, vol. IV, 178-79.
(i) R. Wittkower, Gian Lorenzo Bernini (London, 1966), p. 260. See also M. L. G. Perer, “Cultura e socialità dell’altare barocco nel’antica Diocesi di Milano,” in Arte Lombarda, 42/43, 11-66.
First of all, when it is necessary to build several altars and the church is cruciform with an apse and two arms, the shape of the church will be exploited. The head of both these arms will be a suitable place to build two altars, one on the right and one on the left, provided there is adequate space regarding the width, as will be specified below.{1}
This place, if a chapel with altar is to be built there, must be at least nine cubits and eight ounces wide. If a concavity in the wall in the shape of a hemicycle against which the altar will be set is to be built then the place must be at least six cubits and sixteen ounces wide.
Moreover any church, whether it has a nave and two aisles or a nave only, has a space, as indicated above, that is sufficiently wide on either side, outside the main chapel, at the head. Here, on either side, a chapel and an altar can be decorously and suitably built in the same way, with the prescribed measurements and form, or at least a concavity in the form of a hemicycle in the wall in which an altar can be set.
Therefore when other chapels with altars are to be built in a church of this type, in addition to those at the head of the arms, they can be built along both sides of the church, unless they should be too near to the chapels at the head of the arms, contrary to what will be prescribed below.{2}
Each of these chapels, whether on the right or left side, must, where there are several aisles, be set in the center of the aisle at the head of which it is placed. When the church has a nave only, the chapel will be built at the center of the wall located between the main chapel and the corner of the church. It must however be at least two cubits from the main chapel, unless the construction criteria of the building, because of the weight supported by the wall in that point, or the structure of the church, do not require a greater space.
If an altar is to be set in the semicircular concavity, it also, as mentioned above, must be placed at the center of that wall or of the nave, or of the space between the main chapel and the corner, but so that it is not too close to the high altar so that the priest celebrating mass on one altar would not be disturbed by one celebrating at the other.
All that which has just been prescribed regarding the chapels and altars to be built at the head of one, and the other sides of the church can be applied only to those churches where the main chapel and the altar inside are such that within there is a space of at least four cubits. In those churches however in which, on account of the limited size, the high altar has no chapel, or, if it has, it is so small that the altar within projects out into the church, so much so that it would be in sight of the altars that might be placed on either side, then no side altars, as prescribed above, are to be built at the head of the church, even if there is sufficient space. Otherwise a priest celebrating at one altar would, because of the proximity, impede or interrupt another priest celebrating at another altar, and it would not be appropriate.
When it is necessary to have an even greater number of altars, there is a third place where they can be built, that is on both sides of the church, the one facing south and the one facing north. Chapels with altars can be built along both these sides, projecting outwards with respect to the body of the church, but in building them the following criteria must be observed: the chapels should be built equidistant from each other, and should have sufficient space between them so that windows for an adequate light can be put into the wall on either side of each chapel.
If the chapels cannot be set at a distance from each other they will be joined together, but at the back wall, projecting outwards, they will be semicircular or octagonal in form, so that they can receive light from the sides.{3}
Then in a church with nave and aisles, the chapels will be directly opposite a bay so that their view is not impeded by columns or piers. In a church with a nave only, instead, they will face out into the space between the arches or beams supporting the ceiling, whether vaulted or coffered. If the chapel is wider than this space, and it cannot be built as described above, the crossbeam will be supported at the summit of the arch opening of the chapel.
The minor chapels will all be of the same width, length and height and, as far as possible, will in all their details be similar. Those at the head of the arms of the cruciform church, depending on the possibilities the site offers, can, since they are somewhat wider than the others, be of more important structure, as long as they correspond to each other in all their parts.
No minor chapels or altars are to be built beneath the pulpit, or from where the organ is played, or the gospels of the Epistle are read, or the sermon is given, or from where one sings.{4}
No chapels are to be built between the pier and column or supporting arch or beam of the roof, which come first upon entering the church, excepting only that chapel which is to be built, without an altar, in churches which are devoted to the cure of souls, and in which the baptistery is to be placed.
No chapels will be built on the inside wall of the facade of the church on an axis with the high altar, and in general in no other place in which the priest, while celebrating, would turn his back to the main chapel.
The minor chapel can be nine or eleven cubits wide, or even more, depending on the size of the site of the church, but never less than seven cubits. The length, from the entrance to the wall against which the altar is set, must not be less than seven cubits, so that there will be sufficient space for the cleric serving mass. Nor should the chapel railing occupy part of the church or of the nave.{5} It should not, however, be larger, so that the people who are present at mass will not be hindered by the side walls of the chapel from seeing the celebrating priest from all parts of the church. If it is not possible to give over this much space to minor chapels, they can also be shorter, that is five cubits and eight ounces.
These provisions do not apply to those chapels at the head of the church on either side of the main chapel and they can therefore be much longer than the others.
If the limited space in certain churches makes it impossible to build chapels that project outwards, in the prescribed size and shape, they will at least be built so that they project as much as possible in relation to that part of the church in which they are built.
If however the site does not permit chapels to be built projecting outwards and to be seen as prescribed, then only the necessary altars can be built along either side of the church, built into the concavities of the curved semicircular walls, and suitably projecting outwards, depending on the site and place.
If it is not even possible to curve the walls in semicircular form, then only the absolutely necessary altars will be built, set against the wall, either with two columns or other suitable support, set a bit into the wall itself, one on the right and the other on the left.
These columns will be joined together at the top with a vault or similar structure, while the hemicycles will be decorously represented as a painted ornamentation.{6}
Lastly, all those altars which, for the reasons given above, will be built in places in which the chapels, because of lack of space, cannot have the prescribed size, so that the gates or railings in front will necessarily project out from the wall, they can be made smaller, so they will not measure more than one cubit and sixteen ounces. Moreover, no step will be built for them, so that both the altar and the railings will project as little as possible.
The railings of these altars, moreover, will be set at a distance of one cubit and at least eight ounces from the footpace, to leave enough space for the cleric serving at Mass.
If the church is particularly wide, the space can be reduced by constructing chapels on either side, in the length, height and shape prescribed above. Thanks to this considerable width, therefore, there will be room inside the church for building them in the prescribed measurements, as long as the height of the church in the spaces between the chapels is still proportionate.
The floor of the minor chapels must be raised above that of the church by eight ounces, and sometimes-even more, as will be seen below. The threshold of each minor chapel, when possible, should be of marble or solid stone, from sixteen to twenty ounces wide at the most. There will be an entrance step, at the same level as the chapel floor, and only this one step will be built to go up to the chapel.
When the main chapel has several steps, it will also be permitted to have two other lower steps, in addition to the entrance step, in relation to the characteristics of the site and the size of the chapel. These too should be of marble, at least of solid stone, or at the very least of brick. They will be as wide as the entrance step, and the indications given regarding the steps of the main chapel will apply to their height.
As prescribed for the main chapel, each minor chapel will be vaulted. The altars will be built not at the sides, but at the center of the back wall of each chapel.
All the minor altars will be two cubits and eight ounces high, from the top part of the footpace up. They will be four cubits and a half long, or never less than four cubits. They will be two cubits deep.
The footpace of the altar (called ”bradella”) will consist of wooden boards or planks. It will be two cubits wide and eight ounces high. It will be longer than the altar by about sixteen ounces per side, but no more than one cubit, and it will encompass the altar on one side and the other, unless, because of the narrowness of the chapel, this lateral projection would hinder the cleric serving at Mass. In this case it will not project but will simply be of equal length.