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French to English translations [PRO] Architecture / ecclesiatical architecture
French term or phrase:choeur à sept pans rayonnants
The complete sentence is : L'aspect fortifié de l'édifice attire vite l'attention avec sa tour carrée, ses échauguettes crénelées et son portail principal orné de mâchicoulis. L'intérieur est très représentatif du gothique méridional, grande nef unique et choeur à sept pans rayonnants.
How would one translate orné de mâchicoulis ?
is the term "invented" by post-medieval architectural historians --just as "Gothic" itself is an invented term-- to designate the phase in the evolution of Gothic architecture in the middle decades of the 13th c. which comes after "High Gothic" (c. 1180s-1230s, think Chartres, Soissons, Reims, etc.) and before the "Flamboyant" style of the later 13th & 14th cc. It is particularly characterized by its quite lovely tracery designs, found either in "rose" windows or in the "blind" tracery on (interior or exterior) walls. The *transept* facades of Paris are typical of the style: http://tinyurl.com/3tbnqnx , with their lovely roses: http://tinyurl.com/42sbqok .
I didn't mean to suggest that you invented "faceted," Kash, just that I have rarely seen that word used in the literature to describe the kind of polygonal apses we have been talking about. Interesting to note that the book you quote (http://tinyurl.com/4xhx5qv ) is by Robert Ousterhout, a very fine Byzantinist, talking about Byzantine architecture. There's nothing wrong with the term --I've just not seen it used in this context very often. "Style ogivale," of course, is just another, perhaps less invidious, term for "Gothic."
While I agree with you that the piers are large enough to conceal buttresses, if you look on Google Earth (although the images are far from clear), it doesn't look as if there are any really significant buttresses (like at Capestang!)
"Faceted". I didn't invent the term; it seems to have been used often:"In the twelfth century the major churches include multi- faceted apses decorated with a similar system of alternating niches on two levels."
Very interesting stuff.
Having finally seen the photo of the inside (thanks to Kashew and Christopher), I wonder whether the "rayonnants" refers to the inside, i.e. the ribs of the vaulting and their columns either side of each "pan", which, in combination with the windows do seem to give a radiant sun effect (think Japanese flag). The piers also look wide enough to me to have external butresses. I regret that I don't like "facets", can't we call them "bays"? However, I still think the "pans" are butresses. If so, there would be a connection between the exterior and interior through the radiant sun (or halo, as this is a church) symbolism.
to use Kashew's happy term --which I've not seen in the literature, but I greatly prefer to "sides". Art Hysterians usually get around the problem by speaking of a "seven sided polygon." Yes the first two "sides" effectively constitute a very, very short "choir" --the "straight bays" of the choir is what they might be called, if they weren't part of such a tiny structure.
Puts me in mind of something like what's going on at Morienval, a fairly modest church from the first quarter of the 12th c., which has a very modest hemicycle:
There is no structural reason for those rib vaults --the "ambulatory" is so damned tiny that one is almost unable to squeeze through its supporting columns. We have to look elsewhere for a reason for them --it's ideology (the "Heavenly Jerusalem" is rib vaulted, or something) at work at Morienval. (more views of the church here: http://www.art-roman.net/morienval/morienval.htm )
a 7-part vault over such a small space is really *overkill* --suggesting that there is an entirely non-functional reason for it: as a "copy" of a more prestigious building in the region; or a copy of it's "mother" house; the same architect as Capestang (or, maybe one of his assistants who worked at Capestang), something like that. Structurally it is entirely overbuilt. Not unusual to find something like that, amongst the middevils.
the "pans" (accepting your interpretation of that term) are themselves quite narrow --this is a pretty small church. Which brings up the question of why so dangéd many "facets/pans" in the first place? Seven-part vaults being somewhat unusual, I'd say (without any substantial evidence whatever and being totally ignorant of the monument and region in question) that what we have here is a village church which is trying to copy a larger (perhaps a mother) church in the region --Capestang.
Perhaps there is an institutional connection between the two (i.e., Capestang might have "owned" Cruzy), perhaps even the same architect at work. Just guessing, however (Art History being a young and inexact science).
we don't really have a "choir" here --that brief "straight bay" just before the polygonal apse hardly counts as one (and, shares the same vault as the apse). My feeling about "chevet" is that it is a somewhat typically French vague term, meaning something like "the end of the building." Perhaps I'm just prejudiced, however. In a "normal" building (whatever the hell that might be) it is used to refer to the part of the building east of the transept (which we don't have here) and the choir (which we also don't have here).
...I'm far from convinced that this particular church has anything very much in the way of buttresses.
Look how narrow the pillars are between the windows — MUCH narrower than the ones at Capestang, which of course corresponde to the simply massive (out-of-proportion?) buttresses on the outside there.
I feel sure that the 'pans' simply refers to the facets, and the issue of buttresses is a red (sandstone?) herring...
Tony, I'm reading "rayonnant" here as simply "radiating" --as in "the buttresses radiate from the polyhedron of the apse."
Kashew's first link shows us a church with a single "nef" (i.e., "vessel," the nave) with nave chapels, rather than side aisles (because each chapel is separated from its mate by the solid wall of the buttresses on each side of it).
Note the relatively small (esp. for a mid-13th c. "Rayonnant Gothic" building) windows --typical for a So. French church, presumably because of the excess of light in those regions, as opposed to the cold, dark North.
In this church, there seems to be no separate choir as such, the apse fulfils this role; in the MH document, it is referred to as the 'chevet', which is perhaps the best way to regard it:
or choir and apse? Is the source accurate?
See the other question:
"L'intérieur est composé d'une nef centrale et de deux bas-côtés; le choeur, percé de deux grandes baies, se termine par une voûte en cul de four" and look at the photo. The choir(s) are not right under the vault.
Sadly, the Google Earth images for Cruzy don't go "round the back" of the church to show the east end.
Looking at the picture of the interior in the pictures from the document kindly found by Kashew, the seven apse windows are much more closely spaced than those of Capestang (which does have enormous buttresses!), making me think that any buttresses it might have would be relatively insignificant beasties.
I suspect the 'rayonnant' simply means that they are arranged around a regular polygon — once you get up to 7 sides, there might be some justification for expecting them not to be ;-)
The style is definitely "Rayonnant" Gothic, but I don't think that that's what "rayonnant" is referring to here --surely its is something(s) which are "radiating" --not chapels (only because there are none), but probably B.D.'s "buttresses."
kashew France Local time: 18:03 Specializes in field Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 57
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Asker: All the answers were so interesting but as I don't know the church or in fact anything about church architecture, I've decided to use your translation.
The translation workplace 
peer agreement (net): +3