Escrito en piedraestudios en torno a la fábrica del claustro de la Catedral de Toledo (1383-1485)

Resumo

The Cathedral of Toledo underwent between 1383 and 1485 a period of great constructive activity with the raising of the monumental cloister and other buildings around it: the Saint Blaise Chapel, San Peter Chapel and the main tower that completed the cathedral complex. The aim of this research is to get a complete view of the historical process of the construction of the cloister and the organization of stonecutters' workshops through the masters who worked during that period in such building, one of the largest made in Castile during the Middle Ages. Who were these stonecutters and where did they come from? How were they trained? What materials and resources were they working with? When and under what conditions did they do it? What signs of them remain in the building? Trying to find answers to these questions, I have explored various documentary sources and I have studied the building in situ, analyzing a number of archaeological elements preserved in the cloister that were not studied up to now, such as the stone signs or marks. My target was to link through these signs the sources traditionally used in the research, namely documentary and monumental ones, seeking for connections between them. I began with the study of the "Obra y Fabrica", the institution responsible for the organization of this great work, also considering the promoters, who stimulate new projects through their commitment and, in some cases, were responsible for bringing to Toledo foreign masters who were the introducers of new forms and styles. I was able to study the materials and techniques used by the medieval masons through the entries in the accounting documents, made systematically in the cathedral, and through the rich and varied documentation that the archives contain. The section dealing with he stones, wherein the different types, sources and transport means used to carry them have been recognized, is of particular relevance. The storage facilities and some of the critical infrastructure in the organization of the large construction and its impact on the urban layout have also been located and identified...