Medieval portals as places of transformation

Figure portals are the face of medieval church architecture. Since the time around 1100, they have impressed their viewers with a hitherto unknown flood of images. Even today they fascinate the visitor immediately, although their pictorial language is difficult to decipher. The medieval portals were perceived differently by their contemporaries than they are today. Their effect was based on a need to view that was fundamentally different from modernity, a complex theological iconography, and a sensual appearance of the materials that was coordinated with this. Today's viewers have a different visual experience, but the portals themselves have also undergone massive changes: Sensitive parts have been moved to museums for protection, and a mixture of original and copy often remains at the original site. While the additions were mostly concerned with iconographic completeness, the immediate sensual experience of the portal via materials and surfaces was hardly addressed.

Prof. Dr. Rainer Drewello

Ruth Tenschert

01.03.2015 to 28.02.2018

University of Bamberg, Chair in Mediaeval Art History

University of Bamberg, Professsur für Bauforschung und Baugeschichte

Further information can also be found on the pages of art history.

German Federal Ministry of Education and Research