THREE IDENTICAL BUILDINGS FOR
DIFFERENT FUNCTIONS
Along the southern edge of the monastery, directly behind
the Bake and Brew House for the Monks, are ranged three
rectangular structures which house the apparatus needed
in the three main phases of preparation of bread and beer:
the grinding, crushing, and parching of the grain (fig. 438).
Only one of these, the Drying Kiln, is identified by a
descriptive legend: "the place in which the grain is
parched" (locus ad torrendas annonas). The purposes of the
other two may be inferred from their equipment, which
consists of two large "mortars" (pilae) in one, and two
"millstones" (molae) in the other. The buildings are identical
in shape and may be assumed to be of identical construction.
They measure 35 feet by 35 feet and are internally
subdivided into a principal work space 25 by 35 feet, which
contains the basic machinery, and a lean-to 10 feet wide,
serving as the dormitory for workmen (eorundem famulorum
cubilia). As in the more elaborate structures of the Plan,
the servants' quarters are not accessible from the outside,
but from the interior only. We assume that in their
exterior appearance these buildings looked much like the
mill shown in the background of the painting Seated
Madonna by Gerhard Memling (fig. 439A), now in the
Uffizi at Florence.[471]
This painting also gives us an idea
about the device used to provide power in the operation
of mills and mortars—a subject that is controversial and
requires further explanation.
