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Between Myth and Reality: The 'Tuscan Influence' on the Architecture of Mount Lebanon in theEmirate PeriodAuthor(s): Elie HaddadSource: Journal of Design History, Vol. 20, No. 2, Design and Polity Under and After theOttoman Empire (Summer, 2007), pp. 161-171Published by: on behalf ofOxford University Press Design History SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4540351Accessed: 14-12-2015 08:06 UTC
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Journal
of
Design
History
Vol. 20
No. 2
doi:10.1093/jdh/epm010
re:focusesign
Be tween
M y t h
n d
R e a l i t y :
t h T u s c a n
In f luence
o n t h rchitecture
o
M o u n t L e b a n o n
n
t h
E m i r a t e
P e r i o d
Elie
Haddad
Lebanese culture has been
impregnated
with the
notion that architectural
developments
during
the
emirate rom
Fakhreddine I to Bechir
III were real-
ized by Tuscan builderswho participatedn the cul-
tural renaissanceof the
area,
and that
by
extension
these landmarks f the emiratewere
indebted to the
ItalianRenaissance.1
This
notion of
Tuscan nfluence
on the
architecture
f
Mount
Lebanon
n
the seven-
teenth and
eighteenth
centuriesbeen
accepted
with-
out critical
evaluation,
owing
to
the
scarcity
of
documentsand the
secondary
ole accorded
architec-
ture
n
the
political
ormationof
the
national
dentity.
The
principal
eference o which
we can trace
any
of
these deas s the work of FatherPaul
Carali,
authorof
a documentary tudyon the correspondence etween
Emir Fakhreddine
I
and the
Medicis,
collected from
the archivesof Florence
and
Rome,
and
published
n
Rome
in
1936.2
An
earlier
eference
can be found
in
the work of IssaIskandar
Malouf,
author
of
a
seriesof
articles on
Fakhreddine
II,
which celebrated the
political
and culturalachievementsof
the Emir
as
a
cornerstone
n
the
foundation
of
a
modern state on
the
European
model.3 We also find
some references
to thisWestern nfluence n other histories uch
as the
seminalwork of the
Jesuit
Henri
Lammens,4
he work
of Boulos Noujaim5and that of Michel Chebli.6
Historic documents do corroborate
that Italian
experts
were invited to Mount Lebanon
during
that
period
to assist
in
realizing
various infrastructural
projects
as
part
of the
Medici's
political engagement
with their allies n
Mount Lebanon.7
Popular magi-
nation
has, however,
extended this
into a
'Risorgi-
mento' that
translates
architecturally
nd
artistically
the Italian
Renaissance
on
this side
of the Mediterra-
nean. References to this
effect
appear
n
the
popular
literature,
n
additionto the 'national
history'taught
in the
schools,
celebrating
the
impressive
achieve-
ments
of the emirate. In one such
essay,
the author
evoked the splendourof the periodin these terms:
The
heavy
difices
f this
eudal
own
speak
f
a
short
his-
torical
arenthesis
hich
was
opened
nd
swiftly
losed n
the chroniclesf
the
Lebanese
ountain.
ut this
opening
was
sufficient
s
it
allowed a
reinvigorating
reeze
of
Risorgimento,
f
Italian
Renaissance
t
a smaller
cale,
to blow on the Shouf
Mountains,
onferring
n
them a
Tuscan
arentage
nd
a Palladian
ppearance.9
Although
the same authornoted
the Arabic
nflu-
ences that
remain
preponderant
n the
new
style
(referredto as a hybrid of the Oriental and the
Renaissance)
he text is
rich in
references
o Tuscan
influence,
which transformedhe
landscape
f Deir
el
Kamar nto a
'princely
domain
in
Tuscany'.1o
uch
architecturalnd aesthetic
notions,
although
imited
n
their effect on the
popular
imaginary,
contributed
neverthelesso
the
idealization
f the Lebanese
moun-
tain
asa
landscape
hat
s
distinct rom ts
hinterland,
nd
by
extension,
rom ts
geographical
xpanse.11
he
Tus-
can influence on the architecture f
Mount Lebanon
during
he
emirate
appears
n
retrospect
s
a
false
prem-
ise which neverthelessndirectly ontributedo thelater
idealization
f the Lebanese
andscape
n
popular
cul-
ture.12We
will
show that he
import
of ideas
rom
Italy
came
primarilyhrough
he effortsof
Maronite
lergy-
men
who studied
in
Rome,
some of whom subse-
quently
returned o
Lebanon,
applying
ome
of
their
acquired
kills
n
the
design
of
religious
uildings
n
the
nineteenth
century.
This
paper
examines ome of the
aspects
f this
exchange
and its
consequences
n
archi-
tectural
erms
on the
development
f local
architecture.
The Author2007]. Publishedby OxfordUniversityPresson behalfof The Design HistorySociety. All ightsreserved.
AdvanceAccess
publication
date 10
July
2007
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Elie Haddad
The
Mount
Lebanon
emirate in
history
The emirate
denotes the
period
from the
beginning
of the
seventeenth
until
the middle
of
the nineteenth
century,
characterized
by
most historians as
being
the
period
of
gestation
of
the
Lebanese
identity,
which
came to fruition in
the twentieth
century
with the
founding
of the
nation-state
of
Lebanon.13
Already
during
that
period,
the
territory
under
the
emirate,
which covered
mainly
the Mount Lebanon
chain,
expanding
and
retracting according
to
political
and
military
events,
was
given
a nominal
independence
within
the
Ottoman
Empire.
Where can we
trace Tuscan influence
on
this
prov-
ince,
in
terms of
architecture?
The
presumed
line
of
influence
goes
back to the direct relations between
Fakhreddine II, Emir of Mount Lebanon and the
court of the
Medicis
in
Florence. Fakhreddine II
went to
Florence in AD 1613
fleeing
the
Ottomans,
who
grew
suspicious
of his increased
independence
and territorial
claims.
During
this
time,
he
stayed
principally
in
Livorno
and Florence as a
guest
of the
Medicis
[1613-15],
and then as
a
guest
of the
Span-
iards
in
Sicily
and
Napoli
[1615-18].
Upon
his return
to
Lebanon,
Fakhreddine
II
wrote to the Medicis ask-
ing
for their
assistance
in
the art of
modern fortifica-
tions. He
delegated
to Ibrahim
al-Haqlani14
the
mission of carrying his request to Florence and find-
ing
the technical
and
military
experts
he needed.
The
original
request by
the
Emir
also included
a
medical
doctor,
an
architect
experienced
in the
building
of
palaces, bridges
and
fortifications,
as well as
a
master
builder
experienced
in
waterworks and another one
in
designing
and
building
water
fountains,
a
gardener
and a
baker,
in
addition to six to
eight
families of
farmers
to
train the
locals
in
the Italian methods
of
agriculture.15
There were no
specific
requests
for
any
major
architect,
or
anyone
with a
training
under
any
of the masters of the time whose work could have
impressed
the
Emir
during
his
stay
in
Italy.
Addition-
ally,
Fakhreddine
II
requested
from the Maronite
Patriarchate the
translation of one work on
fortifica-
tions.16 This raises a
question regarding
the aesthetic
considerations of this
Emir,
who
had been described
by
the Chevalier d'Arvieux
as
being
a man of intense
curiosity
and
great
interest in the
arts,
poetry
and
music.17
How could a man of his intellectual breadth
have
only
utilitarian concerns and
neglect,
for
instance,
Alberti's
treatise on the
art
of
building,
to
name
just
one of
the
major
works
on
the
art of build-
ing
of the
Renaissance?
According
to Father
Carali,
the architectural
pro-
jects
of
the
Emir
started
mainly
around
1631,
upon
the arrival of the
Tuscan
experts,
who included an
architect
by
the
name of Francesco
Cioli
and a master
builder,
Francesco
Fagni.s8
It
would be safe to assume
that
Fagni
would have
supervised
the waterworks
projects,
construction f
bridges
at
Nahr-el-Kalb,
Sidon and Beirut
and other infrastructural and urban
works
in Deir el
Kamar,
the
capital
of the
emirate,
in
additiono other
major
owns.
This
would,
of
course,
fall
well
within
the main
preoccupations
f the
Emir
at the
time,
namely
to insure the
protection
of his
emirate,
and to
equip
it with an infrastructural
system
that
would allow his
troops facility
of
movement,
as
well as improving the living standardsof his subjects
by
developing
a
water
supply
system
and
training
them
in
new
agricultural
methods. No
specific
build-
ings
were
attributed to
Cioli,
who
may
have been
in
charge
of
building
the
palace
of
Beirut,
and the one
in
Sidon.
In this
case,
architecture must have
taken
a back-
ground position,
despite
the assertions of some his-
torians
who relate that Tuscan builders were able in
this short
period
to create
'magnificent
landmarks
which
testify
to
the Italian
ingenuity
in all artistic
matters'.19One of the major examples of those mag-
nificent
landmarks
may
have been the Emir's
palace
in
Beirut,
which
was,
we are
told
by
one
traveller,
'designed
in
the Italian
style,
with its
gardens
and
stables and
reserve of wild
animals',
and
which con-
stituted one of
the
'wonders
of
the Orient' accord-
ing
to another.20
D'Arvieux
compared
the
palace
of
Beirut to that
of
Sidon,
while Maundrell
gave
a
bet-
ter
description
of
its
landscaping,
its ornate marble
fountain and its
vast
gardens.21
Giovanni
Mariti's
account,
claiming
that the
palace
in
Beirut
betrayed
its Arabic lineage, is one of the few architectural
descriptions
we have of this
work,
which was
falling
into
ruins
and
disappeared
around the end
of
the
nineteenth
century.22
Carali
interpreted
the Arabic
lineage
as an
attempt by
the Tuscan builders to
accommodate
the
Emir's
wishes,
creating
a work
that would
fit in
its context. Mariti also attributed
to Tuscan
artists
the
sculptures
that were created
for the
rectangular courtyard,
which was furnished
with mosaics of
different colours.23
The
design
of
162
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Re-Evaluation of the 'TuscanInfluence'
the
palace gardensmay
have revealed a more direct
influence of Tuscan
landscaping
deas.
Among
the other
major
works of that
period,
Fakreddine
II's
palace
in Deir el
Kamar,
his
capital,
which
should
have
held
the
highest
symbolic
impor-
tance, confirms the hypothesisof the secondaryrole
that aesthetics
played
in
his
priorities,
as
well
as the
limited role that
any
Tuscan influence
played
at that
time. The
palace
s a fortified constructionwith few
openings,
which owes more
in
its
detailing
o
Egyp-
tian Mamelouk architecture han to
Tuscany,
with a
complete
absenceof
any
elements that
may
be attrib-
uted to the ItalianRenaissance.
The decorative ele-
ment of note
in
this rather
massiveconstruction s the
entrance
doorway,
with its
alternating
andsof
white
and
yellow
limestone,
typical
of Mamelukand
Otto-
man architecture.The
neighbouringpalace
of
Gergis
Baz,
one
of
the Emir'schief
administrators,
s well as
the
palace
of Younes
Maan,
also features elaborate
doorways
that
clearly
indicate a taste for
Oriental
ornamentation rather
than the
Classical ornament
revived
in
the Renaissance
1-3].
The architectural
ypology
that
appeared
with
the
palaces
of Deir el Kamarwould continue to influence
the secular and
religious buildings
of the
period,
where a minimal
ornamentation
estricted o
specific
parts
such as
doorways,
mandalounwindows and
musharabiyehs
ould be the
only enriching
elements
in an otherwise austere
architecture,
due in
part
to
economic,
political
and
military
reasons.The Emirs
of Mount Lebanon could not
ostentatiouslydisplay
their wealth without
attracting
the
jealousy
of the
Ottoman
governors.
Thus,
the
building,
as well as the
f
Fig
1.
Fakhreddine
I's
palace
n Deir el Kamar
context,
did not seem
to
impress
some
travellers,
such
as
Volney,
(pen
name
of C-F
Chasseboeut)
who
wrote at the end of the
eighteenth
century:
The land of the
Druzes offers few
places
of interest.
The
most
interesting
is
Deir-el-Kamar,
or the
House of the
Moon, which is the capitaland residenceof the Emirs.This
is
not
a
city,
but
simply
a
large
town
poorly
built and
quite
:~r::
:I:i: ~~n~~,~ii~
~;~z~~Y: i::'a~~-
Fig
2. Palaceof
Gergis
Baz,
Deir
el Kamar
.AOKI
aw owv ,
:All
MR 4
9.J
7I
77',
0
'Ova7
10/1
Fig
3.
Palaceof Younes
Maan,
portal
detail,
Deir el Kamar
163
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Elie Haddad
dirty.
It is situatedon the backhillof a
mountain,
at the foot
of which flows one of the derivatives f
the river
Tamyras,
today
the riverof
Damour.
[...]
The
Serail,
or the
palace
of
the
prince,
is
nothing
but a
large
and
badly
built
mansion
about to fall in ruin.24
In addition to the two palaces in Beirut and Deir
el
Kamar,
Fakhreddine
II
also
built the
Serail
and
the Khan of
Sidon,
the other
major
centre
in
the
emirate
that the Emir is credited for
turning
into
one of
the most
flourishing
cities of
the Levant.25
The
Serail,
which
today
lies
in
ruins,
was built as
a
solid
construction of dressed stone.
It was well
described
by
D'Arvieux,
who noted
its
sumptuously
decorated and
elegant apartments,
its
pleasant
ter-
races and rich
landscaping.26
Yet the detailed
descriptions
of D'Arvieux
never mention
any
sur-
prising
details
in this
context,
details
that could
betray any
Italian influence.
To
place
these architectural
achievements
of the
emirate
in
context,
the
Emir
would
have
certainly
seen the
major masterpieces
of the Renaissance
during
his exile
in
Florence,
namely
the
Duomo of Santa
Maria
in Florence
by
Brunelleschi
with its
campanile
and
baptistry,
and
Santa
Maria
Novella,
the
fagade
of
which was
completed
by
Alberti
in
1450,
to
name a
few of the
religious
edifices
in the
city.
On
an urban
scale,
he would have visited
the
Galleria
degli
Uffizi,
commissioned
by
Cosimo
I under the direction
of
Vasari
to house the
administrative
offices
of the
city.
Most
importantly
in this
case,
he would
have been
impressed
by
the Palazzo
Pitti,
the
residence of
the
Medicis,
which he visited
upon
his
arrival
and
at
many
other
occasions
during
his
stay.27
Besides the Palazzo
Vecchio and
the Palazzo
Medici-Riccardi,
where he
stayed,28
there were a
number of other
landmarks
in
Florence
that would have
caught
his attention.
Also,
his initial
stay
in
Livorno,
one
of the 'ideal'
cities of
the
Renaissance,
could not have
failed to
impress
him.
Yet of all these diverse
models one
finds
basically
no
influence on the architecture of the emirate, unless the
palace
of
Beirut could
have offeres the
only specimen
of this
architecture,
something
that is doubtful
if
we
take into
account the travellers'
accounts
as well as the
surviving
constructions
of the emirate
period.
The emirate's other
landmark was the
palace
of
Beiteddine,
built
by
Bechir
II
[1788-1840]
at the
beginning
of the nineteenth
century
on the other
side of the
mountain,
overlooking
Deir el Kamar.
This
palace
was
meant to
impress
friend
and
foe,
as it
was built
after a
series of
battles,
at the end
of which
Beshir
II
prevailed
over other
competing
lords of
the
mountain.29
Yet
again
this
palace,
which
was com-
pleted
almost
two centuries
after
Fakhreddine's,
did
not
indicate
any
radical
departure
from
regional
building traditions. These aspects did not go unno-
ticed
by
travellers such
asJohn
Murray
who
described
the
palace
in these terms:
We
first enter
a
courtyard,
whose battlemented
walls
look
out on
Deir-el-Kamar--the
mountainsides
elow
breaking
down
in
terraced
lopes
to the distantsea.
Thence
there is
an ascent
by
a broad staircase
nto another
court.
Here on
the
left is a
light
Saracenic
portal
leading
to
the Hall of
Audience
and the
privateapartments
f the
late Emir.
The
apartments
were
light
and
lofty,
finished
in the
Damascus
style,
with tesselated
pavements
of
marble,
raised
daises,
n-
laid
walls,arabesquedeilings
all
gold
and
glitter[...].30
Whether
the
portal
is of Saracenic
or rather
Main-
elouk
inspiration,
is not the
main issue. What
is
clear
is
the lack of
any
correspondence
that these Western
travellers
drew between
these
palaces
and their con-
temporaries
in
Italy
or
Spain,
or
other
parts
of
Europe,
even
in their interior
layout
and
their
decoration,
which remained
'Oriental'
in
style
[4,5].
How
can we account
for
the
striking
continuity
of
building
traditions
in
what
was the most
autonomous
province
of the Ottoman
Empire,
and one
with
long
established
and extensive
trading
connections? It
appears
that
in Mount
Lebanon,
the
Ottoman
prac-
tice
of
employing
local
masons as
masters of construc-
tion
projects,
rather
than artistsor
architects,
prevailed.
The
emergence
of
the architect
as
an individual
2R,nc
O,
Fig
4.
Bechir
II's
palace,
Beiteddine
164
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Re-Evaluationof the 'TuscanInfluence'
AU
4
.
laai
i:.
,.
:.;:
........
.
i
]
.
...
i
:.
....
:
.
:
.
:
.
...:..
..
AM
...
:4
.
.
.
Fig
5. Bechir II's
palace,
detail
of
portal,
Beiteddine
designer,
ess bound
by
traditionsand more
open
to
foreign
ideas and
influences,
did not take
place
until
the twentieth
century.
Architecture
n
Mount Leba-
non therefore
did not witness
any
radical
renaissance'
which,
in
the manner of
the
Italian
Renaissance,
would
emancipate
architecture from
the
building
trades,
bringing
forth individual
artistsand architects
such as
Brunelleschi, Palladio,
Serlio,
Alberti or
Michelangelo.
In
these
provinces
of the
Ottoman
Empire,
ar
away
rom the
capital
stanbul,
he
respon-
sibility
for
building
remained the
prerogative
of
master
masons,
monitored
in
the
major
cities
by
a
mi'marbashi,whose post was equivalentto that of a
superintendent
of
public works.31
There is no
evi-
dence that the Emirs
of Mount
Lebanonbroke with
this
long-established
practice.
Indeed,
an
interesting
document
from the
period
confirms the
persistent
lack
of texts
that
specifically
deal with architecture.
One of the
Jesuit
missionaries ent to Beirut
to
pre-
pare
for
the
founding
of
the
Jesuit
Seminary,
ater to
become the
Jesuit University,
wrote
in
1833 to his
superiors
n
Rome
asking
hem to
send:
a few morebookson the illnesses f animals nd he treat-
ments o be
given,
alsoon the cultivation f
fields. f
you
couldalsodiscover
Vignola
r
any
other
good
treatisen
building
nd he arts ndcrafts
n
general,
hiswouldbe of
much use here. The ArabEmirs
always
equest
rom
us
explanations
n the
subjects
f
arts,
which are
unknown
here.AfterMedicine,hissubjectwouldenableus to get
better introduced n this area.32
The Italian influence on
religious
architecture
After
palatial
rchitecture,
which does
not exhibit
sig-
nificant traces of Tuscan
influence,
it is
to
religious
architecture hat we turn our attention.
This
displays
somewhatmore
affinity
o ItalianRenaissance ources
in some of its details,although againthe references
are
fragmentary
nd
idiosyncratic.
n
this
case,
how-
ever,
there is a more
plausible
rationale or an
influ-
ence: an
nterest
n
imbuing
ocal
religious
architecture
with
Catholic
taste itted with the efforts
made
by
the
Maronite Church to
consolidate,
aesthetically
s well
as
ideologically,
ts attachment
o the Roman Catho-
lic church.
Reinforced
by
the influx of Maronite
theologians,
who
had
been
admitted to the seminaries
n
Rome
since the end of
the fifteenth
century,
these endeav-
ours must surely have found a better ideological
ground
n
the
young
minds
of
seminarians
ho some-
times returnedwith a
religioustraining
compounded
by
a newfound
interest
n
the
arts.33
ome
observers,
such as
Volney,
did
not see
any
concrete
translations
of this
experience
beyond
a basic education
n theol-
ogy,
and the
learning
of the
Italian
language.
He
commented:
The courtof
Rome,
n
affiliating
he
Maronites,
ave
hem
a
hospice
n
Rome,
where
they
could send
their
young
men
to receive
a freeeducation.t seems hat
his
process
shouldhave ntroducedn them he artsand deals f Eu-
rope:
but the students f this
school,
restrictedo a
purely
monastic
ducation,
nly bring
back o their
country
he
Italian
anguage,
which is
of no
use,
and a
theological
knowledge
hat eads hem to
nothing:
henceforth,
hey
soonfallback
nto the common
lass
f
people.34
Despite
this rather dismissive assessment
by
Vol-
ney,
it
appears
hatthe Italian
exposure
nevertheless
bore fruits at the architectural
evel,
even if these
came at a much laterdate.A numberof churches
and
165
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Elie Haddad
chapels
in
the
mountain
villages
as well as
in
the cities
testify
to this
infiltration of Italianate taste
in
the nine-
teenth and
early
twentieth
centuries,
visible in the
modest classical
details that frame church
entrances,
belfries,
pediments,
windows and other motifs
which
are added as ornamental supplements to the tradi-
tional
Mount Lebanon church
type.
Yet even
in
this
realm,
the
foreign
intervention
remains limited and
the
church as a whole
conserves its traditional form
with a
modest interior
space
devoid of
any
of the
accoutrements of
Renaissance
churches.35
In
few
cases,
the church
facade
is
given
an Italianate
facelift,
while the interior
continues to exhibit its stone
vault
construction
without
any
decorative treatments
[6-8].
Even in the
monastery
of
Bkerke,
the
seat of the
Maronite
Patriarch,
we find
only
a
limited interven-
tion
in
the form
of
applied
motifs to the
traditional
vernacular
language.
The cloister
of Bkerke devel-
oped
in
successive
phases
into a main
pavilion
which
now
frames
an
internal
court,
leading
to another
pavilion
that features a
modest Renaissance
portal.
The
author of this addition
appears
to be a certain
24-
: :k
----
----
.......
r-
~1;gmQ
KOR
Fig
6.
Chapel
n
Ghadir,
Keserwan
Brother
Leonard,
who introduced his delicate
refine-
ment to the
existing
traditions.
The
adjoining
chapel
in turn is marked
by
a modest
Ionic
pilaster
which
frames he entrance
doorway,
while
the
interior
s
left
in
its stone
vaulted
construction,
with decorative
ribs
articulatingthe edges of the vaults, in a pseudo-
Gothic fashion.
Again
one does not find here
any
15,WE
11.
lb7,
Fig
7. Church
in
Ghadir,
facade
detail
ll
w
Mr
:M
Fig
8. Church
in
Ghadir,
nterior
166
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Re-Evaluation of the 'TuscanInfluence'
significant
races of Renaissance
nfluence,
either
in
the use of classicalmotifs or
in
the treatmentof the
internalwalls and
ceiling
[9-11].
Towards the end of the nineteenth
century,
two
imposing
churchesof
Western
type
were
erected:
he
Maronite athedraln Beirutand heMaronite athedral
in
Batroun,
both
by
the
Italian
architect
Guiseppe
Maggiori.
The
Beirut cathedral
1884-94],
more than
its sister
n
Batroun,
learly xpresses
ts
Italianate
ineage
in
its classical
proportions, pediment
and the com-
bined use of Ionic
pilasters
nd columns on the main
fagade,
as well as its interior
spatialorganization
and
detailing.
The interior of the church
reflectsa desire
to modernize
the traditional church
interior
by
replacing
he traditional
ault
construction
by
a cof-
fered
ceiling, opening up
the
space
and
accentuating
IN
Al;
on
R
MR
INEN
IS,
VO
ARM-
WE
All, p
Fig
9. Bkerke
Cloister,
entrancedetail
.I..
.
.
i
ll.
...
...
.....
..
..
'
::.::..:. ::::i::::': :-ir_ l-~'
Fig
10. Bkerke
Cloister,
church entrance detail
its
perspectival
vision.
This cathedral
epresents
one
of the most elaborate
examples
of Renaissance
nflu-
ence on
religious
architecture
n
Lebanon,
despite
some of its
regional
accents,
namely
the use of
local
sandstoneand the modest articulations
f the
fagade,
compared with the fagadeof I1Gesu in Rome, a
church which served
as a
paradigmatic
xample
for
many
of
the
churches
in
Italy
and elsewhere.
The
imposing
style
and
Westernizing
accents
must have
left some
deep impressions
at the
time,
especially
f
one
compares
his new
cathedral o the more modest
religious
edificesthen
existing
in
the
city
[12,13].36
The
question
of the
ideological programme
of the
Maronite
Church,
as far as architecture
s
concerned,
needs further
study.
Whether
these
limited architec-
tural
operations
were tied to an
ideological pro-
gramme
aimed at
charting
a new direction
n
religious
architecture,
eflecting
he Church's
recent affiliation
with
the
Roman Catholic
church,
remainsan
open
question.37
What is
evident,
however,
is that the
importation
of Western
ideas
in
architecture
did not
come so
much
through
civic works
such as town
............
T7,
..:
,,A
77,
7V,
Fig
11. Bkerke
Cloister,
church
interior
167
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9/12
Elie Haddad
al
ii
7i
I
NOW--
av77 & 7,
o
9K
7
.
.
...
....
.....
Fig
12. Maronite
Cathedral,Beirut,
facade
halls,
villasor
palaces,
as
is
conventionally
assumed,
as
through religious
and
specifically
Maronite architec-
ture,
which translated
n
one
way
or
another the
growing
exchange
between
this
Church
and the
Church of Rome.
The
Central
Hall House
The third area of influence is
that of the domestic
house,
and
especially
what is
commonly
known as
the 'Lebanese
House',
in
its most
developed type:
the
Central
Hall
House.
The CentralHall
was
character-
istic of the patricianhousesin the majorcities,or the
feudaland noble mansions
n
the mountainsof Leba-
non. It is
characterized
y
its
cubic
form,
surmounted
by
a red-tile
roof,
with the tiles
imported
from Mar-
seille,
and its
triple-arch
openings
at the centre
of the
main
facade.
The materialof construction
was
always
stone: sandstone covered
by
stucco
in
the cities
on
the
coast,
and
limestone
in
the mountains. Father
Carali,
writing
in the
1930s,
attributed o the
early
seventeenth-century
Tuscan mission of
experts
that
F A l l
M
Fig
13. Maronite
Cathedral, Beirut,
interior
[after
restoration]
was sent
to the
Emir the introduction
of the red-tile
roof,
characteristicf the Lebanese
House,
as well as
the
typical
arcade that
distinguishes
the
facade,
in
addition
to a
reconfiguration
of the
house interior
arounda central
atrium.38 et
this assertion s
in con-
tradiction o
most
evidence about
the
appearance
f
this
type
of
architecture,
which
dates t to the
middle
of the
nineteenth
century
[14].
Among
the firstarchitectural
tudies o
look at this
vernacular
ousing
traditionwere
Kalayan
nd
Liger-
Belair's
publication.39
n
this
study,
the two
authors
each take a different
position
on the
lineage
of this
housetype. Kalayanraced he CentralHall House to
the
original
house
types
found
in
Byblos
around3000
BC,
conceding
that
this
specific
type
seems to be the
genuine
expression
of an authentic
tradition
which
kept evolving
since,
even
retracing
he characteristic
triple-arch opening
to
ancient
prototypes
in
the
region.40
Although Liger-Belair
also
seems to con-
cede the Lebanese
dentity
of the Central
Hall
House,
he
nevertheless
ntroducesanother
possibility,
hat of
its relation o
the Venetian
palatial
rchitecture
f the
168
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Re-Evaluationof the 'TuscanInfluence'
41:
Fig
14. CentralHall
House,
Beirut
Renaissance.41
iger-Belair
did not exclude
the
pos-
sibility
of
this cross-fertilization
between East and
West as the
origin
of this
specific type,
which returns
from
Venice to the cities on
the Lebanese
coast,
implemented
here
in
its
specific
variation.42
In
another
study,
Friedrich
Ragette,
who drew a
detailed
analysis
f the
typology
of the domestichouse
in
Lebanon,
dismissed he
hypothesis
of its
possible
derivation rom the
Venetian
palazzi,
concluding
that
this
typology
and ts
constitutive
elements,
such
as the
triple-arch,
were
indigenous
developments
in
tune
with local
climatic,
topographic,
ocial
and other fac-
tors.
Ragette's
conclusions attributed
hese common
typologies
and the recurrence
of certain
motifs,
such
as the
pointed
arch,
to the
widespread
dissemination
of
building
traditions
across he Mediterranean
ince
antiquity.
Yet the
developments
n
each
case were
by
andlargeparticularo each cultureandclimate.43
The
topic
of the
LebaneseHouse and ts
most illus-
trious
example,
the Central Hall
House,
remains a
question open
to different
interpretations.Recently,
it was
again
the
subject
of a collective
work
in
which
different
authorsaddressedts
origin
and variations
n
Lebanon
and the
region.44
Semaan Kfouri
again
brought up
the
surprising
similarities
between the
houses
along
the Venetian
Canal and the
Lebanese
House,
without
necessarily
onceding
a
direct
ineage
between the
former,
which
appeared
round he
thir-
teenth
century,
and the
latter,
which
only appeared
around he mid-nineteenth
century.45May
Davie,
in
a
morphological
study
which went
deeper
into the
sources,
did not reach
a definite conclusion on the
origin
of this
type,
but attributedt to a
multiplicity
of
sources and
influences,
mainly
local
masons,
engi-
neers and artistswho have contributed heir
skillsand
knowledge
to its
development, leading
to the most
refined
example
that would constitute the
'model'.
Davie
seemed,
o favour
mplicitly
he
theory
of local
evolution,
with influences from abroad limited
to
techniques
and
materials,
which
naturallyaccompa-
nied the
gradual
modernizationof
that
period.46
Davie's
hypothesis
s the most
plausible,
aking
nto
consideration hat most of these mansions
date back
to the nineteenth
century,
and not to the earlier
periodof the emirate.The CentralHall constitutesa
major
archetype,
a
type
that has been
in
constant
use
since
antiquity,
not
exclusively
Tuscan,
or
Venetian,
or Lebanese or that matter.
On
the other
hand,
the
two
major
Renaissance
models,
the villaand the
pala-
zzo--the
villa as
epitomizedby
Palladio
n
the Vene-
tian
countryside,
and the
palazzo
in its
multiple
variations-did not find
any
translations
n
the cities
or mountainsof Lebanon. One
may
attribute
his to
the limitations of materials
and construction
169
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Elie Haddad
techniques,
as
well
as
to the rather conservative
cli-
mate
in
which
the local vernacular
evolved,
a ver-
nacular which
was
adapted successfully
to the
functional and
cultural
specificities
of
the local
cul-
ture,
and
to the
topography
of
the Lebanese moun-
tains.
Still,
the
absence of
any interpretations
of
these
Italian models in
local forms poses some serious
questions
about
any presumed
Tuscan influence on
Lebanese
architecture as
a
whole.
Conclusion
As
I
suggested
at the
beginning
of
this
paper,
it
appears
rom
the extant
examples
of the architecture
of
the
period
that the 'Tuscan nfluence'on
architec-
ture
n
Mount
Lebanon
rom
the seventeenth
century
has been
largely
a
matter of
speculation,
despite
the
political
and
economic
relations
hat
evolved
between
the emirateand
the court of the Medicis n Florence.
These relations
did mark the
political
and economic
history
of
the
period
and
over the
following
centuries
contributed o
the
evolution
of a
distinct,
cosmopoli-
tan
Lebanese
culture.
This
exchange
did
not,
how-
ever,
translate
significantly
into architecture
as
happened,
or
instance,
n
England,
Portugal,
Scandi-
navia
or Latin
America
during
the
same
period.
Such
dissemination
s took
place
in
Lebanoncan be traced
best-though
to
a
limited extent-in
religious
archi-
tecture, as 'ornamental infusions'. These may have
carried within
them,
consciously
or
unconsciously,
a
desire
to
give
form
to the
ideological project
of
devel-
oping
a
Lebanese
identity
separate
and
distinct
from
its
immediate
geographic
context.
Elie Haddad
Lebanese
American
University
E-mail:
ehaddad@lau.edu.lb
If
you
have
any
comments
o make n relationo this
article,
lease o
to
the
ournal
website
n
http://jdh.oxfordjournals.org
ndaccesshisarticle.
There s a
facility
on the site
or
sending
responses
o theeditorial
board ndother
eaders.
Notes
1
This is
reflected
in
the official
history
book
for
elementary
education,
which
gives
a
synopsis
of this
'common'
knowledge
on the
topic.
Fakhreddine
I is
portrayed
n this
official
history
as
a
visionary
who founded
the
state
of Lebanon
and charteda
new
buildingprogramme
cross he
country:
'Fakhreddine
ook
great
interest
n
architecture
n Lebanon.
He
reorganized
he coastalcities
and created
gardens
and built
luxurious
palaces.
He was
assisted
n this
by
architects
rom
Italy
and Lebanese
builders.
The notables
in
the
country
imitated the
Emir
in
their own
palatial
architecture,
and
building
activity
spread
n all
regions
n the
country.'
Al
Tarikh,
th Year
Elementary, inistry
of
Education,
Beirut,
2000
[p.
35,
my translation].
2 Paolo
Carali,
Fakhr
ad-Din
II
Principo
el Libano la Corte
di
Toscana,
2
vols.,
Reale Accademia
d'Italia,
Roma, 1936,
translated nto Arabic in Reale Accademia d'Italia, Roma,
1938,
reprinted
n
Dar
Lahd
Khater,
Beirut,
1992.
All
references
to this
document are
n
the Arabic
version.
3
The
ideological
construction
of the
history
of
Lebanonand
its
multiple
variations
s well
analysedby
Ahmad
Beydoun
in his
Le Liban: Une
Histoire
Disputee:
Identite et
Temps
dans
l'historiographie
ibanaise
contemporaine,
niversite
Libanaise,
Beyrouth,
1989
[text
in
Arabic].
In
this
regard,
the role
of
Fakhreddine
I
is
important
n
the
foundational
myth
of the
Lebanese
tate,
and
s
related
differently y
a numberof
authors,
each
stressing
he
particular
spects
hat
appeal
o them
in their
interpretation
f
historic
events.
The most
prominent
of
those
historiansof
the
emirate were
Jouplain,
Malouf, Lammens,
Carali,
Khalidi,
smail,
Noujaim
and
Chebli.
Beydoun
uncovers
the different
interpretations
of Fakhreddine II
by
these
historiansand their
ideological underpinnings,
exposing
their
fault
lines
which
split
around the
'Arabic',
'Syrian'
and
'Lebanese'
poles,
aswell asthe
'European
Model' illustrated
y
his architectural
achievements versus
the Islamic model of
political
governance.
Beydoun,
pp.
385-425.
4
Lammens
notes in
passing,
n
his
survey
of the
history
of the
region,
that Fakhreddine
resided
alternately
n Beirut and
Sidon,
in
palaces
furnished
by
Western
artists. See Henri
Lammens,
La
Syrie,
Precis
Historique,
ahd
Khater,
Beyrouth,
1994
[originally ublished
n
1921],
vol.
1,
ch. 13.
5
Noujaim
emphasized
the
European
model
on which
the
new state
of
Fakhreddine
I
was established.A.
Beydoun, op.
cit., pp.
392-6.
6
Michel
Chebli,
Fakhreddine
IMaan,
Prince u
Liban,
Universite
Libanaise,
Beyrouth,
1984.
7 See
Philip
Hitti's
A Short
History f
Lebanon,
t Martin's
Press,
New
York,
1965.
8 Ibid.
9
Raja
Choueiri,
Deir-al-Qamar
t
Fakhreddine,
eyrouth,
Felix
Beryte,
1999,
pp.
9-11
[my
translation].
10 Ibid.
11
Choueiri's
essay
also
offers
an
example
of
this,
when he infers
from this cultural
and artisticmovement
the
beginnings
of a
clear demarcationbetween the Lebanese
landscape
and its
hinterland:
'[...]
the LebaneseMountain
will
from this momenton andfor
centuries
o
come
begin
to
denote
to
foreign
observers ome
specific signs previously
unseen
in
the
Orient,
which
in the
fields
of civic
or
military
architecture,
n
certain
works
of
art,
in
agriculture,
n
customs,
language
and culture evoke
the
influence of
renascent
Italy,
and more
generally,
that of
Europe.' [p.
10]
12
In addition to
the
foundational
myths
that dealt with the
prehistoric
Lebanon,
he Lebanese
dentity
relied
strongly
on a
romantic
representation
of the Lebanon Mountains as
an
idealized
space.
See
Elise
Salem's
Constructing
ebanon:
A
Century f
Literary
arratives,
niversity
Pressof
Florida,
2003.
170
This content downloaded from 193.227.179.75 on Mon, 14 Dec 2015 08:06:20 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp7/26/2019 Between Myth and Reality the Tuscan Influence on the Architecture of Mount Leb
12/12
Re-Evaluation
of
the
'Tuscan Influence'
13 Kamal
Salibi,
The Modern
History of
Lebanon,
1st
edn.,
Weidenfeld&
Nicolson, London,
1965.
14
Ibrahim
al
Haqlani
was a notable man
in
his time. After
studying
to
become a Maronite
monk,
he
left the order
but
continuedto serve his
community,
and assisted he
Emir
as
his
ambassador
o the court of
Tuscany,
and worked
as
a
tradesman
among
other activities. See Nasser
Gemayel,
Les
Echanges
Culturelsntre es Maronitest
l'Europe,
vols.,
Beyrouth,
1984.
15 P. Carali,op. cit., pp. 310-3.
16
M.
Chebli,
op.
cit.,
chs.
10
and
11.
17
Quoted
in
M.
Chebli,
op.
cit.,
p.
17.
18 P.
Carali,
op.
cit.,
pp.
152,
312.
19
Ibid.,
p.
152.
20
Ibid.,
p.
152.
21
M.
Chebli,
op.
cit.,
pp.
111-13.
22
Giovanno Mariti,
Travels
through
Cyprus,Syria,
and Palestine
with
a
General
History
of
the
Levant, Robinson, London,
1791-92.
Mariti's
account is also related
in
P.
Carali,
op.
cit.,
p.
153.
23
P.
Carali,
op.
cit.,
p.
153.
24
Constantin-Francois
Casseboeuf,
Travels
n
Egypt
and
Syria,
vol.
2, 1787,
pp.
84-5.
25 M.
Chebli,
op.
cit.,
p.
109.
26
Quoted
in
Ibid.,
pp.
109-10.
27
Carali
relates,
based
on
the
documents,
he arrival
f
the Emir
to
Florence,
and his
reception
at the Palazzo
Pitti,
which he
entered rom the
garden
ide. See
P.
Carali,
op.
cit.,
p.
190.
28
Fakhreddine
I
is
reported
to have
stayed
in
Pope
Leo X's
apartment
t the
PalazzoVecchio while in Florencewhile his
main address
remained
n
Livorno until
May
1614.
In
June
1614,
he
moved
to
Palazzo
Medici
Riccardi,
where
he
stayed
until
July
1615. See Hafez Chehab's
'Reconstructing
the
Medici Portrait
f
FakhrAl-Din
Al
Ma'ani',
Muqarnas,
ol.
11,
1994,
pp.
117-24.
29
K.
Salibi,
op.
cit.,
p.
68.
30
John Murray,
Handbook
or
Travellersn
Syria
&
Palestine,
Murray,
London,
1875.
31
Antoine Abdel
Nour,
Introduction
l'Histoire
Urbaine
e
la
Syrie
Ottomane,
niv.
Libanaise,
Beyrouth,
1982,
pp.
137-54.
32
Letter
of
FatherPaul
Riccadoma
to Fathers
Figani
and
Ryllo,
dated 24 November
1833,
p.
140,
in
Sami Kuri's Une Histoire
du Libana traverses
archives es
esuites, vols.,
dar el
Mashreq,
Beyrouth,
1996
[my
translation].
33
The Maronite
Seminary
was
founded under
Gregory
XIII in
1584,
for the
purpose
of
educating
Maronite
theologians
n
Rome.
This
college
counted
among
its
graduates
n the
seventeenth
entury,
ibrail
l
Sahyuni
nd he
already
mentioned
Ibrahim l
Haqlani
lsoknown under he LatinnameofAbraham
Ecchellensis.
ee
K.
Salibi,
op.
cit.,
pp.
219-21.
34
Quoted
in
K.
Salibi,
op.
cit.,
pp.
221-2.
35
One of the
major
architects
of
Maronite
religious
architecture
in the twentieth century is the monk Neemtallahel-Maadi
[1881-1954],
who
studied
at the Beaux Arts in
Paris
and
Brussels,
and after the First World War became
the
major
architect
of
Maronitechurches
n
Lebanon.
36 This
aspect
was noted
as well
by
Samir Kassir
in
his
comprehensivehistory
of Beirut.
See
SamirKassir'sHistoire e
Beyrouth, ayard,
Paris,
2003,
pp.
181-2.
37
In
contrastwith the aesthetic
ssues,
he
politicalprocess
of the
MaroniteChurch's ffiliation
with Rome
was
well documented
in
historic
archives and revisited
by
historians.
On the
transactionshat ed to the MaroniteChurcheventual
affiliation
with
Rome,
see Ghassan
al
Ayyache's
Majama'
al
Louaizeh
1736,
Dar
al
Takadoumia,
Beirut,
1991
[in Arabic].
38
P.
Carali,op. cit., p.
153.
39 Haroutune
Kalayan
&
Jacques
Liger-Belair,
L'Habitation u
Liban,APSAD,
Beyrouth,
1970.
40
'If
the
Central Hall house is
considered,
appropriately
s
it
seems,
to be
specifically
Lebanese,
he
Triple
Arcade
symbolizes
for
everyone
the Lebanese radition '.
H.
Kalayan&J. Liger-
Belair,
op.
cit.,
part
I,
p.
36
[my
translation].
41
Liger-Belair
bases
his
analogy
on Hilde Zaloscer's
study
'Survivance
t
Migration',
Melanges
slamologiques,
airo,
no.
1,
1954. H.
Kalayan&J. Liger-Belair, p.
cit.,
part
II,
p.
74.
42 H.
Kalayan
&J. Liger-Belair, p.
cit.,
part
II,
p.
77.
43
Friedrich
Ragette,
Architecturen
Lebanon,
Caravan
Books,
New
York,
1974,
pp.
115-19,
166-80.
44 Michael Davie, editor of the study, contributedan article
which
critically
evaluates
the
ideological
discourse
that
has
surrounded he Lebanese
House.
For
more,
see his 'La
maison
aux trois arcs t
la
construction
deologique
du
patrimoine
au
Liban',
n
La Maison
Beyrouthine
ux
Trois
Arcs:
unearchitecture
bourgeoise
u
Levant,
Michael
Davie
(ed.),
ALBA &
Tours:
CREUMA,
Beyrouth,
2003,
pp.
343-69.
45 Semaan
Kfouri,
'La
maison
a
hall
central
au
Liban:
origines,
influences, dentities',
n
Michael
Davie,
op.
cit.,
pp.
33-55.
46
May
Davie,
'Genesed'une
demeure
patrimoniale:
a
maison
aux
trois arcsde
Beyrouth',
n
Michael
Davie,
op.
cit.,
pp.
57-96.
171