6. THE FLOOR
Enough has been said about the roof. Discussion of the floor now follows. In the church it should not be made of bricks laid in a herringbone pattern, or of fired bricks, or other brickwork, unless it is glazed, but in the more important church and in the main chapels, in the other outstanding structures, it should be covered with marble or some other strong stone, tessellated or with diamond-shaped tiles, perfectly smooth, or also in mosaic work. In the other churches and chapels, where this is not possible, the floor should be in smooth stone slabs or brick. On the floor, regardless of what material is used, no cross should be painted or in relief, nor any other sacred image or story or other figure symbolizing the sacred mystery.
NOTES
Chapter VI, p.
- Borromeo’s experience in pastoral visits led him to observe that church floors made only of pressed earth were not suitable for the constant use that he hoped the Catholic Reform spirit would incite. A solid material surface, whether of glazed brick or marble, would definitely be more functional and would eliminate the possibility of holes and of irregularities – problems that restricted an orderly, even, uninterrupted flow of people
- In pagan antiquity the pavement of a temple, basilica, and home was one of the major decorative crafts that had developed to a perfected splendor, as is attested to by the mosaics of Rome that Borromeo would also have known.
The sectile floors of central Italian churches between the twelfth century and the mid- thirteenth, were known as Cosmatesque pavements. Specific characteristics were roundels and/or quatrefoils flanked on the right and left sides by repeated groups of patterned rectangles separated by white marble interstices. The materials normally were porphyry, white marble, giallo antico, and serpentine. The roundels had a longitudinal orientation, beginning at the entrance of the church and were designed to lead the eye down the nave in a direct line towards the altar, giving, in effect, a kind of processional route. Many of these pavements are in existence today and serve as examples of consistent, iconographical, visual programs.(a)
- Durandus compares the pavement to the foundation of faith, saying that in the spiritual Church the pavement represents the poor in spirit; that is, those who humble themselves in all things; who in their humility are as the pavement.(b) He makes no mention of images.
(a) D. Glass, “Papal Patronage in the Early Twelfth Century: Notes on the Iconography of Cosmatesque Pavements.” Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, XXXII (1969), pp. 386-390.
(b) Durandus, I, 28.
Decorative pavements with inlaid animals, symbols of the zodiac and labors of the months are already known to the reader. Figures of this sort had regional variations, and some prominent examples in the Milan archdiocese during the time of Borromeo (still in evidence) are the mosaic pavements of S. Michele, Pavia; the Duomo of Cremona(c) with its figurative interpretation of the battle between corpo et anima; and the Basilica of S. Colombano at Bobbio and its twelfth-century pavement with representations of the months, the story of the Maccabees, and several fantastic creatures.
As regards sacred images in the pavement of churches and streets, it is interesting to note that the Florentine synod of 1517 forbade crosses and symbols of any saint to be placed, carved, sculptured or painted where they could be walked upon by men and animals.(d)
Borromeo, in the fourth Provincial Council of 1576, minced no words in forbidding sacred images in pavements when he declared that “that which has been ratified by us concerning the image of the sacrosanct Cross in the third Provincial Council, let this likewise be interdict; to wit, that other sacred images and histories of the saints, or figures and symbols of sacred mysteries, be carved, painted, or represented in any flooring whatsoever, laid on the ground or in any sordid place, even outside of the church.”(e)
In 1567, Borromeo approved Tibaldi’s design for the pavement in the Milan Duomo, and in October, 1580, another entry appears in the archives regarding some deliberations of the Fabbrica over its construction.(f) Tibaldi’s plan contained several designs as part of the total whole. The sanctuary was to contrast markedly from that of the rest of the church and this variation in pattern and color would serve to increase the perceptibility of the sloping stages that led to the main altar. There was no instance of a sacred symbol.(g)
(c) The visitor must actually leave the Duomo proper and go into the adjacent cemetery where a tiny staircase leads underground to the lower floor of the destroyed church of S. Ambrogio.
(d) R. Trexler, Synodal Law in Florence and Fiesole, 1306-1518 (Vatican, 1971), p. 130.
(e) Quod de sacrosanctae Crucis effigie in Concilio Provinciali tertio per Nos sancitum est, itidem interdictum sit, sacras alias scilicet imagines, ac Sanctorum Sanctarumve historias, sacrorumve mysteriorum figuras et significantiones in ullo quovis humi strato pavimento, aut loco sordido, etiam extra ecclesiam, insculpi, pingi effingive. AEM, 307.
(f) Arch. Arciv. Milano, Metropolitana LXXI, 446, 9 and 17.
(g) This general practice is in effect today as may be seen in directives for church floors: “sacred figures or monograms should not be wove in the rug or carpet used in the sanctuary, as it is naturally objectionable that such holy representations should be trodden upon.” H. Collins, The Church Edifice and Its Appointments (Maryland, 1962), p. 117.