THE CELLAR
In contrast to the Dormitory and the Refectory, to which
it corresponds in all other respects, the great monastic
Cellar, which lies on the western side of the cloister yard,
is not 40 feet wide, but has a width that ranges somewhere
between 35 and 37½ feet (fig. 70.A-C). The building is
firmly drawn except for its western long wall, which swerves
inward and is a little more shaky than the draftsman's
average line. Its curve runs parallel to a seam that fastens
two sheets of parchment and it looks as though its wriggling
and swerving course owed its existence to the copyist's
desire to avoid this seam. Had the copyist drawn the western
long wall at the exact distance of 40 feet from the opposite
wall, he would have had to superimpose the line that
defines the course of that wall on the seam for a considerable
distance, running his quill over the projecting loops
of the thread. It appears probable to me that it was the
wish to avoid this complication that pushed the line of the
western long wall of the Cellar further inward. By how
much he displaced this line, the draftsman could not even
judge at this point, as the overlapping edges of the two
connecting sheets of parchment which separated him from
the original prevented him from actually seeing the corresponding
line of the prototype plan.
The layout of the remaining portions of the Cellar
presents no problem. The dimensions of the barrels, both
small and large, as well as of all the interstices between
them, are multiples of the 2½-foot module (fig. 70.C). The
small barrels are 10 feet long and have a central diameter
of 5 feet. Their outside curvatures are struck with a radius
of 12½ feet. The large barrels are 15 feet long and have a
central diameter of 10 feet. Their stave curvatures are
struck with a radius of 15 feet. The rails on which the small
barrels rest are 5 feet apart. The distance between the
rails of the large barrels is 7½ feet.
