hagioscope

views updated Jun 11 2018

hagioscope. Squint, loricula, or aperture cut obliquely in a wall (usually of a chancel), affording a visual connection between the high-altar and the aisles or side-chapels. One of its functions was to enable the celebrant at a side-altar (e.g. in a chantry-chapel) to see if the Priest at the high-altar had reached the sacring, to ensure sacrings would not occur simultaneously, but the main purpose was probably for security.

Bibliography

Bloxam (1882);
E. Duffy (1992);
J. Parker (1850)

A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture JAMES STEVENS CURL

hagioscope

views updated May 23 2018

hagioscope another term for squint in a church.

The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable ELIZABETH KNOWLES

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