After the fire at Notre Dame in Paris in 2019, a “scientific construction site” was quickly established next to the actual construction site. This interdisciplinary group of researchers from the fields of art history, restoration, architecture, physics and chemistry made it possible to examine the cathedral intensively from the scaffolding.
The research conducted by the University of Bamberg focused on the three west portals and the two transept façades.
In addition to examining the findings, digital surveying methods were also used. In addition to laser scanning the entire cathedral, the portals were surveyed in three dimensions by the University of Bamberg using various photogrammetric methods.
This database, together with the analysis of stone surfaces and stylistic and structural issues, served as the starting point for a new interpretation of the building’s history: this lecture shows how the newly acquired three-dimensional data can be used for art-historical research on the cathedral. What insights do they provide for understanding the building’s history? How do they help us to better understand the planning and design processes? How was the medieval construction site organised? What can we learn from this about the relationship between design and execution? The lecture presents the latest research findings from recent years. It raises the question of the extent to which the newly acquired knowledge gives cause to revise previous ideas about construction processes and stylistic developments.
Stephan Albrecht studied art history in Kiel, Vienna, Berlin, Freiburg and Leyden. He obtained his doctorate in Kiel in 1991 with a thesis on the iconography of Bremen City Hall and habilitated in Tübingen in 2001 with a thesis on ‘the staging of the past in the Middle Ages’. After working in Tübingen, Rome, Munich, Berlin and Stuttgart, he has been Professor of Art History at the University of Bamberg since 2009. His main fields of research are the history of urban architecture and medieval cathedrals. In 2021, he was awarded the Order of „Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres“ by the French state.
The Paul Crossley Memorial Lecture is given annually in memory of the much-loved teacher and architectural historian at The Courtauld. Organised by Dr Tom Nickson, Reader in Medieval Art & Architecture, Courtauld Institute, as part of the Medieval Work-in-Progress Series. This series is generously supported by Sam Fogg.
