The “Dimensional Inconsistencies” of the Plan of Saint Gall and the Problem of the Scale of the Plan

Abstract

In the 1963/1964 issue of the Zeitschrift für schweizerische Archäologie und Kunstgeschichte, Adolf Reinle1 came forth with a new interpretation of the internal inconsistencies of the explanatory titles which define the dimensions of the church on the plan of Saint Gall. This theory is in response to certain textual incongruities which have haunted many other students of the plan. Among the more than 340 legends on the plan, which define the purpose of its buildings, their respective rooms and furnishings, there are five which list dimensions and all of these are within the church (Figs. 1, 2). They are: