Modus: Prace z historii sztuki (15.2015)

the Order was conceived and planned to eclipse everything that had hitherto been
built in this part of Europe. Therefore, it is not surprising that the Chapter House
and the slightly later Great Remfer bear a general resemblance to the Rne/kape&,
nonetheless, they exceed it in terms of architectural complication.
I believe that the Lubeck Chapel and the Malbork Halls have common English
roots. Thus, it is a misconception to describe the latter as merely having been in-
spired by the The architects from the Southern Baltic region could have
known other German experiments with triradial vaulting typical at the turn of the
14^ century. Yet, only in the insular chapter houses could they have found prototypes
for the slender, pencil-like octagonal piers supporting decorative umbrella vaults
with a dense mesh of radiating ribs, remarkable in comparison to rather low and
broad earlier German interiors. Besides, in Westminster (c. 1246-1250) and Salisbury

6. Matbork Castte, Pałace
ofthe Grand Masters, west
front. Photo: author's
archive
7. Matbork Castte, Pałace of
the Grand Masters, ground
ptan. Drawing: author (after
K. Pospieszny, Derf/ocbme/-
sferpo/osf cfer Mor/enburg.
Forscbungen zum Osffe/1
desHaupfgescbosses,in:
T. Bitter et at. (eds.), Burgen
k/rcbb'cber Bauberren,
Munchen-Bertin 2001 [= For-
schungen zu Burgen und
Schtossern, 6], Fig. 25)

(c. 1263-1279; Fig. 5a) we find a clear partition of the vaults ground pattern into

triangular fields with inscribed triradials, as in the Malbork rooms, proving that
triradials were not solely a German device. In turn, the position of the at
St Marys in Lubeck is clearly prefigured, as noted by Crossley, in the two rectangular
western chapels at Lincoln Cathedral (c. 1230), among which the northern one has
a slender central support^. Although in Lubeck and Malbork the bosses are fairly
modest and the piers are smooth and have no detached shafts, the joyful and decora-

tive character of the interiors is well maintained. In the Great Remfcr the additional

tiercerons, springing from the corner fields and creating four star-like intersections
in the triangular fields between two piers and the perimeter wall are also likely to be
of the English origin. Such ribs have no predecessors in the Southern Baltic region
and therefore cannot be explained as "developed from Prussia's earlier use of trira-
dial vaults" as suggested by Becker-HounslowW In fact, they are reminiscent of the
intersecting ribs at the Lincoln Chapter House (c. 1220; Fig. 5b) and in the retrochoir
of the Wells Cathedral (c. 1326-before 1337). However, the ingenious creativity of
the Lubeck and Malbork architects meant that they did not limit themselves to the
explicit reproduction of other buildings. In fact, the Bne/kapHIe, Malbork Chapter

26 See P. Crossley, Lincoln anil Baltic, p. 179; see also P. Draper, LLe Formation of Fnylisli Gotln'c.
Ardiitectarc anil identity, New Haven-London 2006, p. 139.
27 Cf. S. Becker-Hounslow, AialLork, p. 393.

The Influence of 13^- and 14^-century English Architecture...

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