JF Ptak Science Books Post 1971
[Plan of a portion of the principal storey in the Poggio Gajella]
The plans of underground cities, of catacombs and cemeteries, share a certain biological appeal in their design with the plans of Medieval cities, or at least they seem so to me. Removed from their context and placed in an undifferentiated environment, the plans look very much like biological structures, and art. As maps of cities of the dead it is somewhat ironic that their geological chrysalis seem to indicate a biological structure.
And sometimes the images aren't so reminiscent of micro-structures as they are macro-structures, as in the case above. If you squint just a little and look at the Poggio Gajella you can visualize a cross section of the upper torso of a body, including an open mouth, with nasal cavity, throat, digestive system, and even intestines and egress routes--a picture of a person in the city of the dead.
The images below illustrating this ragged point are by Seroux d'Agincourt, (1730-1814), and appear in his Histoire de l'art par les monuments, depuis sa décadence au IVme siècle jusqu' à son renouvellement au XVIme (Paris, 1825). The images illustrate the article "catacombs" from the Encyclopedia Britannica, in the great/standard 11th edition, from Project Gutenberg:
"In complete agreement with Jerome’s vivid picture the visitor to the Roman Catacombs finds himself in a vast labyrinth of narrow galleries, usually from 3 to 4 ft. in width, interspersed with small chambers, all excavated at successive levels, in the strata of volcanic rock subjacent to the city and its environs, and constructed originally for the interment of the Christian dead. The galleries are not the way of access to the cemeteries, but are themselves the cemeteries, the dead being buried in long low horizontal recesses, excavated in the vertical walls of the passages, rising tier above tier like the berths in a ship, from a few inches above the floor to the springing of the arched ceiling, to the number of five, six or even sometimes twelve ranges. These galleries are not arranged on any definite plan, but, as will be seen from the plan (fig. 1), they intersect one another at different angles, producing an intricate network which it is almost impossible to reduce to any system."
| Fig. 1.—Plan of part of the Cemetery of Sant’ Agnese. (From Martigny.) | ||
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A. Entrance from the Basilica of St Agnes. 1, 2. Ancient staircases leading to the first storey. 3. Corridors from the staircases. 4. Two ruined staircases leading to the lower storey. 5. Steps of the rock. |
6. Air-shafts, or luminaria. 7. Ruined vault. 8. Blind ways. 9. Passages built up or ruined. 10. Passages obstructed by landslips. 11. Unfinished passage. 12. Passages destitute of tombs. |
13. Narrow apertures between adjoining galleries. 14-17. Arcosolia. 18-32. Cubicula. 33. Chapel with vestibule and apse, and two chairs. 34. Double chapel with three chairs. 35. Large chapel in five divisions. |
"These galleries are not arranged on any definite plan, but, as will be seen from the plan (fig. 1, above), they intersect one another at different angles, producing an intricate network which it is almost impossible to reduce to any system. They generally run in straight lines, and as a rule preserve the same level. The different storeys of galleries lie one below the other (fig. 2, below) to the number of four or five (in one part of the cemetery of St Calixtus they reach seven storeys), and communicate with one another by stairs cut out of the living rock."
Plan of the Catacombs of St John, Syracuse (above).
Plan of Catacomb at Alexandria, (above)
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