Light as a Symbolic Definer of Spaces in Romanesque Architecture (original) (raw)

In architectural composition, light bore ancient symbolic values – its control constituting the biggest architectural achievement since Plato said truth equalled light. Henceforth light explains western culture and thought: it reveals the world, certainty, our soul, and switches on the world, which is Christ - the world’s light that softens God’s blinding light of death which humanized becomes softer, closer. Yet the world’s light is ether - the absolute metaphor. Light builds our symbolism too: it means life while darkness is the non-being. Thought reflects divine light, artistically represented in space - its reference, where light is the principal element: light defines space and transforms it throughout the day: light is a space maker. Romanesque used light to maximize the religious rite directing it through the constructive system to emphasise the ceremony and represent divinity – backlighting the altar at dawn, while focussing light towards it at dusk. Research on Segovia’s Ro...