Analysis Of Liturgy And The Monument By Roger E. Reynolds

Roger E. Reynolds, “Liturgy and the Monument”, in Artistic Integration in Gothic Buildings (Toronto ; Buffalo : University of Toronto Press, 1995), 57-68. In his article, Roger Reynolds argues that liturgy and cathedrals and a relationship of mutual adaptation. He argues that they would each adapt their forms and traditions to the other depending on which preceded in each specific case, (i.e. an older building with contemporary liturgy, or a new building being built to fit liturgical practices). In his argument, Reynolds describes the buildings and liturgy as “integrated” and presses the importance of scholarship on them being integrated as well. He encourages interdisciplinary communication and encourages art historians to better familiarize …show more content…
She argues that rather than acting as a barrier, the screen is integral to the audience’s understanding and spiritual experience of the worship happen on the other side. Looking specifically at High Mass and the Holy Week, her analysis reveals that the choir screen not only gave visual aid for the the ceremony but also gave the laity a way to participate in the Eucharist even on the days when they were not permitted to actually take communion. Seeing the images on the choir screen gave them spiritual access to the liturgy they were physically excluded from, as dictated by the …show more content…
The sections we read were part of a larger study by Toby Huitson into the uses and purposes of the upper spaces in Gothic Cathedrals. Throughout the text, he looks at many possible uses for different spaces based on surviving texts and architectural cues. Huitson looks at why we don’t know their specific uses at the time of construction along with what they were used for later on as a possible window into the original intention of the spaces. In his research, Huitson looks at old writings and texts from monks and historians alike and addresses what evidence is missing. While there are some buildings that it is easier to nail down what the purpose of these upper spaces was based on the surviving texts, many are up for speculation. Huitson describes some of the popular theories for possible uses. He also does a thorough description of what clues and evidence we can use to speculate the original use. The word I just used. “speculation”, seems the be the main claim of the text. Huitson often admits that there is no way for us to officially decipher the uses of these spaces based on the evidence we have now. The theories he presents are just educated guesses and are not grounded in strong enough evidence to call them fact. Some seem more probable than others, but the general theme of speculation makes it difficult to view the text as factual in any