7. DOORWAYS
Many indications regarding the doorways and their surrounds in sacred buildings have been supplied by talented architects, indications that must be carefully respected, in relationship to the type of church and how it is built.
Care must be taken, however, that the doorways are not arched, for they should differ from the city gates, but should be square, as seen in the oldest Basilicas.{1}
They should not moreover be low as in a humble structure, but, in line with the fundamental criteria of architecture, be twice as high as wide.
A suitably decorated cornice can be added to the upper part, on which a lunette either semicircular or in the form of an overturned hull, can be set, in which the sacred images as prescribed above can be sculptured or painted and as are to be seen in the oldest and most distinguished Milanese basilicas.
The doorways leading into the church will be on the façade. They will be uneven in number, and exactly as many as the aisles [nave and aisles] of the church. But if the church also has aisles then the nave, if the width permits, will have three doorways on the façade. If it has a nave only it will have three doorways in the façade. For the Roman basilicas show us that there must be numerous doorways at the entrance to the church both for the separation of men and women and for many other reasons.{2}
The central doorway must be distinguished from the others by its width and ornament, above all in the cathedral. It would be well to decorate it with sculptures of lions, as in the temple of Solomon, who had them sculptured on the bases to represent the vigilance of the prelates. And this can be clearly seen in numerous cathedrals in the province of Milan.{3}
The panels or valves of the church doors must give the impression not so much as being ornamental as of being strong. It would therefore be best to make them of cypress or cedar, or at least of walnut, decorated in relief that does not imitate the delicacy of painting but that is piously decorated with a carving that will last a while. It will be even more suitable to cover the doors of the more important churches with plates of bronze, decorated with finely wrought sacred subjects, since it is recorded that the doors of the Roman basilicas were not only of bronze, but of silver, or covered with silver.{4}
Inside, the door panels must be well equipped with bolts, locks and rather large keys. But not however on the outside. If this should however be necessary, a small door will be cut into only one of the doors, to one side of the main door. This small door will be solid, compact and equipped outside with the devices mentioned above. There will be no door at the back or at the sides of the church, except there where an entrance is needed either for the sacristy, or the bell tower, or the cemetery, or to the lodgings of the ecclesiastical ministers.{5}
Above all there will be no doors near the altar or the areas on either side, or in any place that give directly onto the altar, to avoid any danger of obstruction, irreverence, or disturbance of the sacred functions.
NOTES
Chapter VII, pp.
- Blunt (p. 129), in reference to Borromeo’s norms on doors, observes that “even in matters of detail the appeal to ancient Christian tradition is final: doors, for instance, must be square-headed and not arched, because the former kind is found in early Christian basilicas, whereas the latter is a pagan design. In every case ecclesiastical reasons predominate, and purely artistic considerations are only allowed in questions which are ecclesiastically indifferent.”
Cataneo (III, ii) suggests various measurements that are in proportion to the width of the church: delle tre porte principali della fronte del tempio, quella di mezzo si farà di piedi dieci larga, e vinti in altezza, e le due dalle bande piedi sette e tre quarti larghe, e duo tanti in altezza. For a church with five naves (III, iii) he suggests that “La porta maggiore di mezzo delle cinque navate si farà da piedi undici in sino dodici larga, ” while for a small church (III, v) he advises: “la porta principale e larga piedi nove e mezzo…” Cataneo’s design shows a façade with three doors: the two side doors are as Borromeo prescribes but the center door, contrary to the norms, is arched.
- Durandus’ treatise gives a clue as to the medieval attitude of the division of the sexes. He explains that “in church, men and women sit apart; which, according to Bede, we have received from the custom of the ancients: and thence it was that Joseph and Mary lost the Child Jesus; since the one who did not behold Him in his own company, thought Him to be with the other… But the men remain on the southern, the women on the northern side to signify that the saints who be most advanced in holiness should stand against the greater temptations of this world: and they who be less advanced, against the less; or that the bolder and the stronger sex should take their place in the position fittest for action…for the stronger members are opposed to the greater dangers. But, according to others, the men are to be in the fore part [eastward], the women behind: because ‘the husband is the head of the wife,’ and therefore should go before her.”(a)
This reaffirmation of the ancient practice of the separation of the sexes is further described by Gian Possevino, a Milanese contemporary of Borromeo. he relates that through major diligence it was sought to eliminate every danger to spiritual immortality through a return to the ancient method of dividing the men from the women.(b) Possevino goes on to explain the process of enforcement, since this practice had long been discarded. Two clerics were assigned posts in front of the church doors to discourage any man or woman from crossing over into the “forbidden” side. At the same time, these clerics watched to see that no woman entered the church with her head unveiled. (Hats were out because they were items of luxury and prompted vanity!) And should any man dare to cross over to the woman’s side, thereby causing confusion, the constables were to take him to prison.(c)
- The symbolism of spiritual vigilance prompted the use of stone lions to guard the portals of churches, since the tradition was that the lion never closed his eyes in sleep (Ps. 120, 4. Behold, he that guards Israel will neither slumber or sleep). Other interpretations of the lion symbol ranged from royalty to immortality.
Various iconographic differences of the pose of lions make for an interesting study: some are in relief on doorframes, others appear on lintels, others are base supports for columns that sustain shallow porches, and others hold an animal or man between their paws – which may be a symbolic rendering of the Peaceable Kingdom.(d) Figures of lions were also used to support pulpits (se Chapter XXII) as well as holy water vases (Figs. 7.1 – 7.6).
(a) Durandus, I, 46. The editor of the Durandus translation implies in his note that there is evidence of still further separation on each side of the married and unmarried. See J. Neale, ed., The Symbolism of Churches and Church Ornaments, p. 31, n. 67.
(b) E perché venisse scongiurato con maggior diligenza ogni pericolo d’immoralità che poteva sorgere dal concorso nello stesso luogo di uomini e donne, servendosi di un antico uso di molti luoghi della Diocesi di Milano, fece dividere le stesse chiese fissate in due parti, assegnando quella a sud agli uomini, l’altra alle donne.
(c) …faceva che ordinariamente stavano alle porte del Duomo e altre chiese due chierici che havevano particulare cura e carico che le donne non andassero dalla banda degli huomini, nè questi dalla banda di quelle, e che le donne entrassero col capo velato…Se qualche huomo o giovine havesse havuto ardire di passare dalla banda delle donne malitiosamente se vi si abbattevano I birri lo conducevano in prigione.” G. B. Possevino, Discorsi della vita et attioni di Carlo Borromeo (Rome, 1591), pp. 55, 90.
(d) “…il cui timpano e sorretto da colonne poggianti su due leoni, secondo il precetto dato da S. carlo Borromeo nel quarto sinode provinciale del 1576, a indicare la vigile cura del Pastore (ut praesulum indicare vigilantiam). Sotto le fiere stanno accovacciati agnelli, secondo il detto del Profeta che pecore potranno dormire anche tra zanne di leone.” P. Spreafico, La Basilica di S. Eustorgio (Milan, 1970), p. 53, see Fig. 7.7.
- The wooden doors of S. Sabina, Rome and S. Ambrogio, Milan predate the main portal bronze doors of the Romanesque period. These decorative doors are thought to have served as models for the bronze insofar as they also are divided into fields and depict sculptured Biblical scenes. Several Romanesque churches still have bronze doors at the central portal, and these doors fall into two basic styles: those with flat representation and inlaid silver, and those in high relief.
- As noted in the discussion on the form of a church (Chapter II), both Palladio and Cataneo described entrances and/or altars at the ends of the “arms” or transepts of a church. In the Milan of 1565 to about 1577, Borromeo saw an increasing abuse of these extra entrances. The Duomo at that time was in the unique position of literally being surrounded by outdoor workshops for sculpture, wood carving, cutting of marble blocks, glass blowing, etc., due to the fact that the Spanish who had taken hold of the city were reworking part of the Castello Sforzesco; the Palazzo Reale was in part being redecorated; and construction was in process at the Duomo as well as at the residence of Archbishop Borromeo. Every one of these sites was in the immediate area of the Duomo. People on their way to the old market behind the Palazzo Reale found it easier to bring their carts, produce, and animals through the transept doors which allowed them a less dangerous thoroughfare, free from flying bits and pieces of wood and marble, taking them from north to south on market days and avoiding a detour of almost two kilometers.
Borromeo was driven to the point of distraction. he issued an order to move the vertical bars of the altar rails closer together to at least keep the dogs from roaming about near the side and main altars. Eventually he solved the problem by issuing an order that was to be carried out under penalty of fine or prison or both. This order was recorded by Giovan B. Casali, who wrote: We record that in the year of 1577, the Illustrious Cardinal Borromeo gave orders that all those churches having three doors in the front façade, that is, the main door and one on each side of it, and, all those churches who have side doors (to this all churches must immediately comply), that all these other doors must be closed and the people must only use the above said three doors of the front façade. This became an ordinance of the sacred council. The first to observe this was the Duomo, followed by S. Ambrogio, S. Francesco, S. Nazaro, S. Stefano, S. Maria della Scala, S. Marco, S. Laurenzo, followed by other churches.(e)
Carlo Bascapé, one of Borromeo’s close friends and often acting deputy in church affairs, reports that the doors were closed on the sides of churches because persons, for convenience sake, irreverently passed through the church as though it were a street, without any regard for the dignity of the place, and that the sealing off of the doors also helped to keep a separation of the sexes.(f)
(e) Memoria come l’anno 1577 illus. Card. Borroemo dette comissione che tutte quelle Chiese che aveva tre porte alla facciata davanti, cioè la porta mastra et un’altra per ogni banda di quella, tutte le chiese di subito le facesse fare, e che tutte quelle chiese che aveva alcune altre porte da le bande, tutte le altre porte si stopasero e se avesse a servire solum de la sopra ditte porte tre de la facciata davanti. E questo se fece de ordine del S. Concilio. E primo fu il Domo a osservare questo, de ordine del detto illus. Card. E cosi seguito S. Ambrosio, S. Francesco, S. Nazaro, S. Stefano, la Scalla, S. Marco, S. Laurenzio, esquitando tutte le altre chiese. Memorie di Giovan Battista Casali, fol. 90, Biblioteca Ambrosiana.
(f) Fece chiudere le porte sui fianchi delle chiese, perchè la gente approfittando della comodità passavea indecorosamente attraverso ad esse come per la strada, senza alcuna riverenza per il luogo sacro. Inoltre tale provvedimento serviva a tenere meglio separate le donne degli uomini. C. Bascapé, Vita e opere di Carlo, Archivescovo di Milano, Cardinale di S. Prassede (1592); rpt. Milan, 1965), p. 805.
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