15thc perception on swallowtail merlons?

[Aga Tentakulus]

Since the architect died in 1493 and 3 other Italian architects carried on raises questions.
Here is a picture of the old wall where you can still see in 2 places.

Whether it was built after 1500, or as Koen says before 1500, it is difficult to judge exactly. In any case, too late for the VM.

I'll just say around 1500.
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[Koen G]

There are hints of swallowtails on the walls of Hildegard's heaven, top right on this image. The quality is bad though, the fork is very faint, and it would be very unusual for swallowtails to occur here. So this is probably not relevant.

[R. Sale]

Well, now we're in trouble because those merlons clearly are not flat or square in any way, shape or form.

Not to mention, top center, where the arm descends from another artistically individualized version of a cosmic boundary or cloud band.

[Koen G]

What's also holding me back is that this manuscript is not original, it is from the Rupertsberg Scivias, which is lost and only known from old black and white pictures. So this is a color reproduction based on those pictures.

Fortunately, for posterity, in 1925 photographs of the original Scivias manuscript were taken as part of a series of exhibitions in Cologne. In addition, in 1933, a duplicate manuscript was created and stored safely at the Abbey of St. Hildegard in Eibingen. Today, the duplicate remains at the abbey, the same place where four Benedictine nuns inspired by Hildegard dutifully produced it.

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When it comes to a detail like this, it might be better to refer to the 1925 photographs, since only those show the medieval work.

[Koen G]

Now that I'm viewing the image on my phone and zooming in, I must say that these are definitely forked merlons. Is anyone able to find another version of the image?

[CaryR]

It seems to be inconsistent, most of the merlons in Hildegard's illustrations are flat and square without decoration, and some are decorated with "Y" shaped lines inside like this:
   

So this gives them the appearance of a V-shape, but still it's contained within a square border. It seems like it's an artistic embellishment rather than a depiction of swallowtail merlons, but in that one example of the walls of heaven, it's a lot more prominent. They do look actually forked at the top. I can't find a good resolution detail though.

[Koen G]

That looks like a good explanation. If the black line on top was somehow dropped in the copying process, the "Y" on the masonry gives the impression of a fork.

[R. Sale]

So it's a second-hand story - four times over? That does make it more interesting.

What is the best provenance for the origins of swallowtail merlons within the HRE??

The 15th Century perspective can also be evaluated in part from the 16th C. While this reference is too late for the investigation, it does offer a comparative perspective to all the earlier Ghibelline representations.

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Of course this is Florence, on the opposite side of the ideological divide at the time. There is a significantly smaller portion of heraldic insignia using architectural representations (castles or towers), and while some of those images lack for clarity, none that I saw can be called Ghibelline. Additionally there are also examples of the Anjou chief, which was the later opponent to the imperial eagle. There are no imperial eagles here.

Then there is the example: GHVARDI

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It appears to have been a rather emphatic expression of opinion. No question about their structure.

[R. Sale]

Fishtail merlons? Fishtails are for mermaids. 

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Probably a reference to the straight-line interior versus the curved-line interior versions of Ghibelline merlons. Still looks as if the curved versions are topped with curved tiles as these will tend to show a sort of lip along the upper edge (the tile), whereas the straight-line versions are all rock or brick masonry.

The article does mention La Tour de l’Archet Morgex near Courmayeur as an early structure.
Here is a photo.

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Also Brescia castle, not dated, but Brescia was listed as a Ghibelline city.

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[R. Sale]

Looking for merlons; found this.

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