east end: Refers to the end of the church where the main
altar is
placed
and where the main part of the service takes place. Generally, medieval
churches were oriented toward the east. However, topography of the land
or other factors may have prevented an absolute east- west orientation
for a church. The term east end, is generally used to describe the area
where the main altar is placed in a medieval church, even in those cases
where the church is not oriented exactly toward the east.
Ecclesia:
Personification of Church.
Often appears with Synagoga (Personification of Judaism)
Personifications
of the Church (Ecclesia)
and Judism (Synagoga). Both appear as female figures- Ecclesia
was crowned and
holding a chalice and Synagoga was blindfolded and held the Tablets of the
Law (the Ten Commandments given to Moses).
egg and dart:
A repetative decorative motif often used in classical antiquity and
copied in the
Middle Ages. It consisited of oval (egg-shaped) motifs alternating with
dart-like
motifs.
Contrast with west
end
See also other
repetative motifs.
Evangelist
symbols
: Symbols for the authors of the four New
Testament books which are narratives of the life of Christ. These symbols
were very common in manuscripts, sculpture and wall paintings, especially
form the Early Medieval through the Romanesque periods. The symbols were: