Plate 39:  Constructing the Black Castle, Part 5: construction begins on the right bastion
(This plate added FEB 2004)

N Plate 30, which contained the Artisan's original sketch for the Black Castle, we saw two towers, one on each side of the entrance arch. These towers, properly known as mural towers or wall towers because they are built into the curtain wall, are sometimes known as bastions. A bastion is a part of a fortified wall which projects forward from the wall.
Note:  the adjective mural (from the Latin word murus, meaning wall) means of, or pertaining to, a wall. We are now going to name these towers in the manner that stage-directors and stage-designers employ when they name the parts of a stage. For example, when an actor on a stage, who is facing the audience, hears the phrase stage right, he understands that it means the right-hand side of the stage from his viewpoint, not from the viewpoint of the audience. --more--
Therefore, applying the conventions of stagecraft to our Black Castle, we will name the tower on the left of the sketch in Plate 30 the right bastion. The accompanying photo shows the right bastion in an early phase of construction. The Advisory Aesthetician, having agreed with the Artisan upon this naming convention, brought up a question: "If the thing that you're now building is properly called a mural tower or wall tower, why are we calling it the right bastion instead of right mural tower, or right wall tower?" The Artisan replied, "I thought that the phrase right bastion, although not architecturally descriptive in the strict sense, sounded better than right wall tower or right mural tower. I feel that those latter phrases, although architecturally germane, seem to attenuate the importance of the structure, militarily speaking." "Very interesting,"  said the Advisory Aesthetician. Go to top of page