Anton
That's not a good example. The monastery was originally wooden, the first stone constructions are dated to late XV century. The tower depicted dates to circa 1591, and I guess so do the walls, although they have been renovated from time to time, so I don't know the dating of the buttresses. The present roof of the tower dates to 1835
All I wanted to illustrate with that specific picture was that there were sometimes buttresses in the walls (and buildings) behind towers, which might account for the angled line associated with a drawing of a tower in the VMS. The simple buttresses have been around since antiquity and had already developed into flying buttresses by the 12th century, so they certainly existed at the time the VMS was created (and, of course, buttresses are only one way to interpret the line on the VMS tower, there are others).
I'll grant that the flag finial is probably a later add-on, although flag finials can be seen in drawings from the 14th and 15th centuries from Bavaria and the Alsace, but not usually that far east until after the 15th century.
Quote:Medieval entry towers didn't usually have ramps or ladders but often the walls behind them had buttresses, like this one from 1397 St. Cyril-Belozersky monastery (St. Cyril was of Russian orthodox background). Note the flag finial, which is usually associated with parts farther west (the monastery also has onion domes):
That's not a good example. The monastery was originally wooden, the first stone constructions are dated to late XV century. The tower depicted dates to circa 1591, and I guess so do the walls, although they have been renovated from time to time, so I don't know the dating of the buttresses. The present roof of the tower dates to 1835
All I wanted to illustrate with that specific picture was that there were sometimes buttresses in the walls (and buildings) behind towers, which might account for the angled line associated with a drawing of a tower in the VMS. The simple buttresses have been around since antiquity and had already developed into flying buttresses by the 12th century, so they certainly existed at the time the VMS was created (and, of course, buttresses are only one way to interpret the line on the VMS tower, there are others).
I'll grant that the flag finial is probably a later add-on, although flag finials can be seen in drawings from the 14th and 15th centuries from Bavaria and the Alsace, but not usually that far east until after the 15th century.