University of Virginia Library

INCOMPATIBILITY BETWEEN THE FLUID
EXECUTION OF THE DRAWING AND
THE PRECISE DRAFTSMANSHIP REQUIRED IN THE
DEVELOPMENT OF THE ORIGINAL SCHEME

My last and final argument in favor of the proposition that
the Plan of St. Gall is not the original version of the scheme
is based on the observation of a profound discrepancy
between the fluid style of the drawing and the extraordinary
precision of construction that must have been employed in
the development of the original scheme—not only as the
dimensions of each individual building were established,
but also in the even more complicated task of fitting the
aggregate of structures into a coherent and scale-consistent
whole. No single line of the Plan has the mark of having
been drawn by rule or compass, as is the case with all the
principal lines of the pier and the tower of Cologne Cathedral (figs. 6 and 9). The draftsman of the Plan of St. Gall
rendered his lines with a broad quill in firm and fluent
strokes, the ease of which reveals the self-assurance of an
experienced hand; but being drawn without the aid of
supporting instruments, his rendering abounds with
inaccuracies and inconsistencies that are incompatible
with the precise draftsmanship required in the development
of the original scheme. About the nature of the latter more
will be said below. The observations presented here admit
of no other explanation than that the Plan of St. Gall is
a copy that was traced on sheets of parchment superimposed
upon a prototype plan. This raises the question
of the nature and origin of the prototype plan.

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