English translation: an arcade of intersecting arches
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11:42 Aug 8, 2011
French to English translations [PRO] Art/Literary - Architecture
French term or phrase:arcade géminée
From a work describing architectural styles, in the section on the Romanesque period and the transition to the Gothic period. The sentence is as follows:
Et la combinaison d'arcades géminées portant sur colonnes, que l'on rencontre souvent encore dans l'architecture romane, indique aussi l'élégante fenêtre de l'ogival.
I know what the term means as I've found definitions in French (two arches juxtaposed with, I think, one central column only rather than two) but I can't find an equivalent in English.
Explanation: I'm not at all sure what is meant here (a pitcher would be worth a thousand warts).
In over 30 years in the (French) medieval art history game, I don't believe that I've ever come across the term "arcade géminée" --nor any sort of "twin[ed] arcade." And, if I had done so, I would have been at something of a loss to know what the hell it referred to --without seeing a picture of it.
Here is an example of a cloister arcade supported by "twin[ed] columns":
Specifically, here, "a blind arcade of intersecting round arches which form more pointed arches at their intersections." There are also (slightly later) examples of intersecting pointed arches:
and there are examples of ones made up of fully "Gothic" pointed arches --but almost always either the "Romanesque' or the "Gothic" ones are "blind" arcades (part of a wall), rather than free-standing ones.
Although they are found elsewhere, the motif seems to have been a favorite of Norman architects --the Monreale example is in 12th c. "Norman" Sicily, and examples proliferate in Normandy & Anglo-Norman (post-1066) England.
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is not made up of perfectly round arches, but rather of slightly pointed ones --thus, it could be thought of as being "transitional" (between "Romanesque" and "Gothic"), if one believes that there actually was a "transition" between these two purely modern constructs used to describe these architectural styles.
I do have a picture of the arcade but couldn't work out how to send it. It looks most like picture no. 5 (Bay) in the proprofs flashcards link in this reply. It seems to be two arches with a slim conjoined column separated from other pairs of arches by thicker columns. I don't think I can copout as one colleague suggested (much as I would like to) because the term recurs too often so I will go for either the "intersecting arches" idea of for the obscure term "gemelled arches". Thanks very much for your helpful answer. 4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer
See http://www.cosmovisions.com/monuArcade.htm
- On nomme arcade géminée, arcade ternée, celles qui sont composées de deux, de trois petites arcades, s'appuyant sur des colonnes centrales et communes, et comprises sous une plus grande arcade.
Interesting discussion --perhaps the problem is that the terminology is inherently unclear, if not downright ambiguous.
When I look at some of the pics you guys have found, I think about the terminology I would use --which is, mostly, based on that which I have seen used-- to describe these monuments.
So, for me, the *exterior* arcade (opening to the courtyard) here:
is not a "double arcade" --it's [part of] an arcade (i.e., all the arches going round the courtyard) made up of double arches (yeah, I suppose you *could* call them "twin/gemelled" arches, but I've never seen them called that and I wouldn't say that myself). But, the point really is that, whatever term is used, if it's *simple* (just one or two words), it's not going to be a "stand alone" description of the thing --more words will be *required*, esp. if there is no picture to accompany the text.
On the *interior* of the structure --what would, in the West, be called a "cloister gallery"-- we have something like "transverse arcading [i.e., running at right angles to the axis of the passage] made up of double (or "twin") arches.
Hmm. Assuming a coupled arcade is two rows of (open) columnwork, that looks like what might be called a double arcade in English, or possibly twin arcade since the two arcades share a common central row of columnwork (as distinct from two separate arcades with a total of 4 rows of columns). In French, it could be an arcade sesqui-géminée [my invention], i.e. an arcade géminée on the courtyard (two rows of open columnwork), flanked by third row of columns, be it open or against the wall. Complicateder and complicateder still!
Now, what should we call Kashew's overlapping structure?
arcade ... Ensemble de piliers ou de colonnes laissant entre eux une ouverture dont la partie supérieure est en forme d'arc.
[Larousse Lexis]
This reminds me of a conversation I had many years ago with an engineer who objected to my saying "hole" where he had said something like espace délimité par des parois. His argument was that although it was indeed a trou, a hole is an absence of matter and the French, being Cartesian, cannot refer to something that isn't there (maybe only in an engineering document, if you believe him at all), so they have to refer to the physical boundaries that demarcate that absence.
Here, maybe the French see the two very physical arcades in the case of an arcade géminée but consider them as a whole (with a W), and therefore as a single entity, but refuse to see the intervening space ("hole", without a W) which WE adjoin to the two rows of columns, referring to the whole as an "arcade".
Note that arcade in French and "arcade" in English do not necessarily refer to the same thing. While our English arcade is generally conceived as being three-dimensional (cf. shopping arcade, or galérie commerciale), i.e. a row of columns forming arches parallel to a wall AND the intervening archwork between the columns and the wall, in French an arcade is two-dimensional, being simply the row of columns and the intervening arches.
Dicobat: ARCADE 1/ Ouverture libre délimitée par un arc et ses supports latéraux 2/Succession d'arcs et de piliers, par ex. dans un cloître ou le long d'une voie.
-arcade géminée : arcade [in the singular] composée de deux rangées d'arcs parallèles.
Thus, an arcade géminée is a (single) "freestanding arcade", i.e. not one with just one row of arches parallel to a wall, but two parallel rows of arches, i.e. open on each side.
If (Since!) a coupled column is two columns close together supporting the same object, then an arcade géminée has to be a "coupled arcade", surely?
"I agree that to know what this is about one should be able to see a picture. If that is not available, then all one can do is offer an English translation that has some support as being equivalent to the French term. "
Yes, a vague (or ambiguous) English translation of a vague (or ambiguous) French term is definitely the only way to go if we don't know what the hell the term is referring to because we can't *see* it.
"'Géminee', when used about windows or columns, seems to relate to separate ones that are side-by-side, not intersecting."
Yes, that's my understanding as well. But it's the *arcades* which are "Géminées," not the columns.
"Therefore, it seems reasonable to suppose that it would be the same when applied to an arcade. "
Well, there you've lost me --what's a "side-by-side arcade"? Or even two "side-by-side" arcades? Not very punny, I hope.
"The Wikipedia article definition could be stretched to Gothic arches by allowing for the arcs of the haunches though not "demi-cercles" to be tangential to each other at the point where they rest on the columns."
Ayyiii, Karumba. I guess I am definitely *visually* oriented, not verbally oriented.
OK, it was a feeble pun. I agree that to know what this is about one should be able to see a picture. If that is not available, then all one can do is offer an English translation that has some support as being equivalent to the French term. "Géminee", when used about windows or columns, he seems to relate to separate ones that are side-by-side, not intersecting. Therefore, it seems reasonable to suppose that it would be the same when applied to an arcade. The Wikipedia article definition could be stretched to Gothic arches by allowing for the arcs of the haunches though not "demi-cercles" to be tangential to each other at the point where they rest on the columns.
strikes me as being close (though typically, maddeningly imprecise), save for the fact that the arcade need not be made up of "deux demi-cercles tangents" --clearly the "tangent" [=?"intersecting"?] arches can be either round or pointed (the former in a "Romanesque" context, the latter in a "Gothic" one). Hélas, I know not from "arcade congéminee" --what's that, "conjoined twins"?
I think your 2nd ref shows an "arcade congéminee"!
Note that, while I agree on the obscurity of the term and don't make any claim to be an architectural historian, I did find the Wikipedia reference that has the virtue of describing what it means by the term, though it provides no illustration.
Thanks, Gilla, actually "fenetres jumelés" is an expression I have seen (though rarely) --"arcade géminée" (or its English equivalent) jamais. Since Carolt's source says "arcades géminées portant sur colonnes" it would seem to me that it has to be the *arcade* rather than the columns which must be "géminée." But, what to I know?
Mimi, the problem with "twin arcades" is essentially the same as with "gemelled arcades" --except that the latter is such a rare term that us poor practicing art historians have never seen it. Two problems, actually: first it's not a question of "arcades" but of a single arcade --an arcade (we made assume) made up of more than one arch.
Second, it's not clear --to me at least-- what is "géminée" here; is it the arches (as in the intersecting examples I posted) or the columns supporting the arches (as Bourth seems to suggest)?
I think that we must go here, not for a translation (no matter how literal), but for something which is much more explanatory. What that explanation might entail depends upon what kind of "arcade" we are dealing with --and for that we need a picture of the damnéd thing. Or, at least *I* do.
It is worth noting that the word "gemel" is fairly rarely used to describe arches, as in "gemel arches" or "gemelled arches". Twin arches is a more common term. The word "gemel" pops up much more regularly to describe windows and the French words géminé and jumelé are both used.
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Answers
7 mins confidence: peer agreement (net): +4
gemelled arcades
Explanation: géminé = gemelled (oxford-Hachette)
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or gemelled arches
books.google.co.uk/books?isbn=0306483173
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GEMELLED Gemine Construction Of columns, piers or arches, twinned two by two (
example: gemelled arch). GENDARME Gendarme Temporary Constructions In a ...
mimi 254 Local time: 17:03 Native speaker of: English, French PRO pts in category: 4
The translation workplace 
peer agreement (net): +4