Originalveröffentlichung in: Duro, Paul (Hrsg.): The rhetoric of the frame, Cambridge 1996, S. 11-23 u.

275-276

The Narrativity of the Frame

Wolfgang Kemp

SINCE the all-conquering appearance o f film, the w o r d " f r a m e " has had
t w o meanings.* Its standard m e a n i n g is the frame around a picture, whereas
in its n e w sense it means the picture itself, the picture that, w h e n projected as
a w h o l e succession o f pictures, gives rise to film. Jokes build o n this a m b i g u ­
ity - o n e has only to think o f the definition o f H o l l y w o o d as a plac e where
they make pic tures out o f frames. T h i s inc identally gives voic e to f i l m l a n ­
guage's c laim to b o t h elements: pic tures and frames. Today the w o r d " f r a m e "
does indeed c o m m a n d a w h o l e semantic field o f terminology, what w i t h
" f r a m i n g " and "refraining," w i t h " i n f r a m e " and "mise-en-cadre" (Eisenstein).
O r to quote assoc iations made b y Stephen Heath:

In frame: the plac e of image and subjec t, view (in early Frenc h c atalogues a
film is c alled a vue) and viewer; frame, framing is the very basis of disposi­
tion - German Einstellung: adjustment, c entering, framing, moral attitude,
the c orrec t position. 1

It should not be diffic ult to w r i t e an aesthetic s o f the c inema o n the basis o f

this weighted and o f t - e m p l o y e d c onc ept.
In o n e respec t this state o f affairs gives pause for thought: is the inflation­
ary use o f the t e r m " f r a m e " c onnec ted w i t h the fac t that c inema in the nar­
r o w sense o f the w o r d k n o w s n o frame? T o quote B a z i n : " T h e sc reen is not a
frame like that o f a pic ture, but a mask w h i c h allows us to see a part o f the
event only." 2 T h a t is the aesthetic desc ription; a formal desc ription w o u l d
p o i n t out that the frame o f the pic ture onsc reen is blac k, invisible, and n o t to
be c hanged - neither during the projec tion o f a film, n o r for l o n g stretc hes o f
film history. T h i s also separates the filmic frame f r o m its c ounterpart in art
history, where there are c ountless types and formats o f frame. In film the stan­
dard ratio o f 1:1.37 remained unc hanged for a l o n g time after the 1920s. T h e
tendenc y to j u g g l e this relationship was pursued by suc h unlikely bedfellows
as the film industry and a film aesthetic s ac ting in the n a m e o f the n e w
m e d i u m . W i t h respec t to the latter, the speec h given by Sergei Eisenstein i n

*This c hapter was translated by Roger Hillman.

 1930 to the A m e r i c a n A c a d e m y o f M o t i o n Picture Arts and Sciences i n H o l ­
l y w o o d , significantly entitled " T h e D y n a m i c Square," is o f relevance. 3
In this lecture Eisenstein persuasively attempted to restrain the Academy,
entrusted w i t h the task o f debating such questions o f standardization, f r o m
further diversifying the screen's format - relationships o f 3:4 (the prevailing
format), as well as 3:5 and 3:6, were under discussion. Eisenstein rejected the
w i d e screen as alien to the m e d i u m . A c c o r d i n g to h i m it had been derived
f r o m historical pageants and the theater, or else oriented toward "ideal" deter­
minants o f relationships like the " g o l d e n m e a n " w h o s e relevance for the c i n ­
ema remained unproven. A d m i t t e d l y he c o u l d not deny that panoramic f o r ­
mats were necessary w h e n it was a matter o f l o n g i n g for the limitless
h o r i z o n , a " l o n g i n g " w i t h o u t w h i c h b o t h R ussian and A m e r i c a n f i l m is i n ­
conceivable - the Far West and the vast breadth o f " O l d M a n R i v e r , " just like
the steppes o f Asia and the plains o f the agricultural collectives, c o u l d be d e ­
picted o n l y i n broad format. B u t Eisenstein sets against this the far m o r e
m o d e r n underlying tendency to the vertical, o n e o f the givens since m a n k i n d
walked upright, w h i c h in m o d e r n times has been satisfied by chimneys, s k y ­
scrapers, oil derricks, pylons, and so forth. W h a t R o d c h e n k o and M e n d e l s o h n
had first d e m a n d e d for c o n t e m p o r a r y photography was translated b y Eisen­
stein into his m e d i u m , namely a recognition o f the "sense o f direction" o f
m o d e r n i t y — o f height, o f steep, d y n a m i c proportions — that w r e n c h our p e r ­
ception out o f its narcissism. 4
So h o w were these extremes to be approached? Pure tendencies to the
vertical and the horizontal must encounter and contest each other o n the
"battlefield" o f the square. T h i s , claimed Eisenstein, was the basic shape,
w h i c h in its " c o s m i c inviolability" must impress itself o n the psyche o f the
viewer before u n d e r g o i n g change or reaffirmation in the course o f the film.
T h e term " d y n a m i c square" means that the basic shape w h e n covered over is
changed f r o m its full size to smaller squares either vertically or horizontally
disposed.
T h i s idea is n o t new. Eisenstein himself refers repeatedly in his lecture to
Japanese art, w h i c h indeed employs extreme formats such as the "endless"
horizontal and vertical scrolls. In the nineteenth-century cycle this art o p e r ­
ated w i t h diverse framing proportions: Eisenstein cites Hokusai's views o f
M o u n t Fuji i n w h i c h the ratio fluctuates between 1:1.47 and 1:1.35, and si­
multaneously all kinds o f frames are tried out. In the West, too, the device o f
changing format was e m p l o y e d in the nineteenth century and ultimately b e ­
came the standard. M a x Klinger's 1881 series A Glove consists o f a sequence
o f ten etchings, w h o s e proportions vary as follows (in each case I give the
height before the width): 1:1.4; 1.2:1; 2.7:1; 1.4:1; 1:2.3; 1:2.3; 1:2.23; 1:2;
1:2.3; and 1:2.1. T h e reasons for the change o f format are generally readily
recognizable. Prints in the series like " T r i u m p h " (triumphal procession) and
" H o m a g e " (a seascape) are given a landscape (panoramic) format that corre­
spond to their horizontal expansiveness. A dream landscape (print 3), in
w h i c h wishes g r o w and unfold, is rendered in a strict portrait (columnlike)
 format. So this is a tautological procedure, just as Eisenstein proposed - land­
scape formats for the steppes and the Wild West, and portrait formats for the
"narrow alleys of the Middle Ages, or mighty Gothic cathedrals towering
above them" and for the P aramount Building in New York. 5 But it is not just
the harmony between format and object that is involved here. This kind of
consonance does not really have anything to do with the "narrativity of the
frame," or at best is covered by Billy Wilder's pointed comment on cinema­
scope (1:2.35, a format that Eisenstein fortunately did not live to see):"This is
a great process for filming the life of a dachshund." With Klinger and all the
more with Eisenstein, for whom montage was the building block of film, the
cycle and the film must be considered in their entirety. Eisenstein imagines
film developed from the "dynamic square" to be a "rhythmically organized
combination of various screen formats."6 Klinger anticipates this process
when he follows an "establishing shot" in his first etching, illustrating in the
old standard film format the overall composition of a skating rink with seven­
teen people, with a close-up perspective of five roller skaters in portrait. The
vertical tendency of the latter provides a nice contrast with the skaters veer­
ing to the right and left. Furthermore, the continued change of format con­
tributes considerably to the veering motion fundamental to the whole cycle,
a motion that begins with roller skating in the first two pictures and contin­
ues through changing configurations of dreams.
A change of format with narrative effect, but realized quite differently, is
also to be found in the precursors of the comic strip in the nineteenth cen­
tury.7 Eisenstein refers indirectly to this when he appeals to the graphic de­
signers to defend the portrait format. These artists assembled the picture pages
of contemporary journals from a variety of photographs in different formats,
and naturally allowed the skyscraper an extreme portrait format. This compos­
ite manner of arranging pages was developed into a high art form in book and
newspaper illustrations of the nineteenth century as well as comic strips from
the 1890s on. 8 Rodolphe Toepffer was probably the pioneer. In anticipation
of Eisenstein he forsook the regular tableauesque format of his great model
Hogarth in favor of dividing up the landscape format of his lithographed
pages into frames of various sizes (Fig. l).With him almost everything is possi­
ble, right through from detailed exposition in the appropriate horizontal band
of the whole page to the extreme of portrait format, which no longer aspires
to being a picture per se, but merely a fragment, a section in a sequence.
Crucial here is less the relationship between prolongation and extent of
the subject and format, than that between the increasing speed of the narra­
tive and the chosen format: shorter sections within a sequence are understood
as signs of acceleration. But with Toepffer we also find forms of parallel m o n ­
tage, even of the symmetrically contrasting variety such as would have inter­
ested Eisenstein. The first frame shows Monsieur Jabot, who has accidentally
set fire to himself and is crying out "Help! Fire!" In the next room the Mar­
chioness of Miriflor hears him, but thinks it is a profession of his love for her.
Frame 3 again takes place in Jabot's room: his hunting dogs are barking
 14 wildly. I n the marchioness's r o o m h e r lap d o g answers ( t w o e x a m p l e s p r o v i n g
t lat o u c a n a
Wolfgang K e m p ' y 'so te
^ ta
^es a D o u t
dogs in p ortrait format!). Finally in the fifth
p anel, Jabot's h u n t i n g rifle goes off.9
I f f o r t h e m o m e n t w e l e a v e aside reasons l i k e v a r i e t y , a t t r a c t i o n , o r a d a p t a ­
t i o n t o t h e o b j e c t , t h e n t h e c h a n g e o f f o r m a t f i n d s its p a r t i c u l a r narrative
j u s t i f ic a t i o n i n t h e t e m p o r a l aspec ts o f p l o t m o t i v a t i o n . T h r o u g h v i s u a l f i e l d s o f
v a r y i n g size proc esses o f a c c e l e r a t i o n a n d d e c e l e r a t i o n are e x p r e s s e d , a n d , as i n
o u r e x a m p l e , a c t i o n s o r p e r s o n s are e m p h a s i z e d o r a d d e d w i t h a n a t t r i b u t i v e
f u n c t i o n : large fields f o r J a b o t a n d t h e m a r c h i o n e s s , s m a l l f i e l d s f o r t h e d o g s —
first t h e p e o p l e , t h e n t h e d o g s . E i s e n s t e i n w o u l d h a v e l e n t o n l y p a r t i a l e n d o r s e ­
m e n t t o this s o l u t i o n , s i n c e b e y o n d t h e f i l m i c c o n s t r u c t i o n o f t h e d e v e l o p m e n t
o f a n e v e n t o u t o f i n d i v i d u a l p i c t u r e s o r f r a m e s ( h e c alls this " c o u p l i n g " ) he
w a s also a b o v e all a w a r e o f t h e p r i n c i p l e o f c o l l i s i o n , w h e r e f r a m e s are a r r a n g e d
a c c o r d i n g t o t h e i r p o t e n t i a l f o r conflict. T h i s is n o l o n g e r p r i m a r i l y a m a t t e r o f
r e p r e s e n t i n g proc esses - t h a t is, o f p r e s e r v i n g c o n t i n u i t y — b u t o f c r e a t i n g " t h e ­
m a t i c effec ts." F r o m this c o l l i s i o n o f r e l a t i v e l y static p i c t o r i a l u n i t s t h e s p a r k f o r
the a s s oc i a t i o n of more w i d e - r a n g i n g c o nc e p t s is s u p p o s e d to originate:
h u n g e r , h a t r e d , l o v e , r e v o l u t i o n . E i s e n s t e i n ' s aesthetic s o f f i l m a n d f i l m f o r m a t s
is t h e m a t i c r a t h e r t h a n n a r r a t i v e .
E s t a b l i s h i n g t h i s s c e n a r i o e n a b l e s a s m o o t h p r o g r e s s i o n t o a n e a r l i e r art
that e m p l o y s a c o n s c i o u s c h a n g e o f f o r m a t , n a m e l y C h r i s t i a n , or m o r e ac c u ­
r a t e l y p o s t - C o n s t a n t i n e art. F o r r o u g h l y a t h o u s a n d y e a r s , f r o m 4 0 0 A . D . u n t i l
1400, the inversion o f Friedric h Sc h l e g e l ' s dic tum w a s a p p l ic a b l e : " E v e r y
work o f art b r i n g s its o w n frame into e x i s t e nc e , " 1 0 b e c o m e s " T h e frame
b r i n g s t h e w o r k o f art i n t o e x i s t e n c e . " W i t h r e s p e c t t o t h e a e s t h e t i c s o f p r o ­
d u c t i o n this m e a n s t h e f a m i l i a r p h e n o m e n o n that, f o r e x a m p l e i n t h e pro­
d u c t i o n o f a l t a r p i e c e s , t h e m a k e r s o f f r a m e s w e r e o f t e n t h e l e a d i n g artists, t h a t
f r a m e s c o s t m o r e t h a n t h e w o r k s o f art t h e y e n c l o s e d , a n d t h a t t h e y often
m a d e m o r e o f a n i m p r e s s i o n t h a n t h e w o r k s o f art. 1 1 B u t i n t e r m s o f t h e p r i ­
o r i t y o f t h e f r a m e i n p i c t o r i a l a e s t h e t i c s , it f u n c t i o n e d u n d e r t h e s e c o n d i t i o n s
n e i t h e r as a n e x c e r p t , as i n t h e c i n e m a , n o r as t h e a e s t h e t i c b o r d e r o f t h e p i c ­
t u r e , as i n a u t o n o m o u s art. Its task w a s t h e o r g a n i z a t i o n o f t h e p i c t o r i a l m a t e ­
rial. T h e f r a m e is t h e n e c e s s a r y p r e s u p p o s i t i o n f o r a c o m p o s i t e art, a n art o f
m a n y pic tures a n d o f "figures de relation" (Valery).12 H e r e I w o u l d b e in­
c l i n e d t o s p e a k o f a n a g g r e g a t e stage o f v i s u a l c o m m u n i c a t i o n , t h a t a c t u a l l y
c o n t r a v e n e s e v e r y t h i n g t h a t later e s t a b l i s h e d i t s e l f as t h e m a i n t e n d e n c y of
W e s t e r n art p r o d u c t i o n a n d e v e r y t h i n g t h a t f i l m i n t h e literal s e n s e i n t e r n a l ­
ized: the integrative, c o n t i n u o u s , u n i f i e d nature o f the single pic ture.13 In
C h r i s t i a n art o f late a n t i q u i t y a n d t h e M i d d l e A g e s t h e f r a m e t h u s h o l d s t h e
e l e m e n t s t o g e t h e r n o t j u s t i n a m a t e r i a l sense l i k e a s c a f f o l d , b u t also g u a r a n ­
tees t h e i r c o n n e c t e d n e s s . U n d e r s u c h c o n d i t i o n s o f v i e w i n g it is i n c o n c e i v ­
a b l e t h a t t h e o b s e r v e r m i g h t p r e f e r n o t t o see t h e f r a m e s o as t o b e l o s t i n t h e
p i c t u r e . T h e f r a m e is t h e n e c e s s a r y c o n d i t i o n f o r p e r c e p t i o n b e i n g p o s s i b l e ,
for a n y k i n d o f struc tural p e r c e p t i o n . F r o m o u r perspec tive, o f c ourse, the
q u e s t i o n a u t o m a t i c a l l y arises as t o h o w p i c t o r i a l n a r r a t i v e s c a n b e f i t t e d i n
here - narratives that we probably far too readily assume to have an egalitar­
ian aspect innate to their law of motion, to their unfolding in time, an aspect
pressing for uniform segmentation.

• • •

I shall endeavor to illustrate this thesis with just two works of Christian art of
late antiquity and the Middle Ages. A glance at the door of Santa Sabina in
R o m e , which originated in the first half of the fifth century A.D., proves that
questions of format and structure are approached in new, intelligent ways
very early in the piece (Fig. 2).14 The wooden frame is secured in its structure
(and not j ust materially). What is striking about it is the prominence, in a
quite literal sense, of the frame. The reliefs look like smooth, flat pictures posi­
tioned between the broad sculptured outgrowth of vine leaves and sur­
rounded by three further framing elements. Two orders of framing can be
made out: an inner, secondary one that relates to the pictorial field of individ­
ual panels, and an external, primary one, which defines each of the four verti­
cal sections by virtue of the columns that rise from bottom to top of the
door. This vertical arrangement can be explained in a practical sense by the
fact that it is a folding door, so that not just two wings are involved, but four
mobile elements. At the same time, of course, the question arises as to the or­
dering capacity of this arrangement.
Our second obj ect of attention is the distinctly different formats of the
pictorial fields and their combination in alternating horizontal rows. The
frame of the door accommodates twenty-eight panels in seven horizontal
rows, with four rows of four small and horizontally formatted panels alternat­
ing with three rows of four large, vertically formatted panels. It is easy to un- 15
derestimate the effect of this rhythmical constellation, but the alternation
 16

Wolfgang Kemp

m
Portal of Santa Sabina.
R o m e , c. 430. C o u r ­
tesy o f Bildar chiv
Foto Mar bur g i m
Kunstgeschichtlichen
der Philipps-
Univer sitat.

achieves the effect of the hor izontal str uctur e also being per ceived in a struc­
tural sense. (If panels of equal size wer e to over lap, the expr essive potential of
the horizontal disposition could easily be limited by the pregnant ver tical ele­
ments of the prominently fr amed sections.) But as things stand, there is a con­
trast at the level of the syntagmatic, a vying between axis and line, and this
contr ast continues in the differ ent for mats of the r eliefs, which involves mor e
than just a differ ence in magnitude by cr eating a var iety of senses of dir ec­
tion. This in tur n is a highly effective structural tool, for it points to both hor ­
izontal and vertical capacities for linkage.
 17
VII Three Marys at the Christ Appears to Christ Appears to Christ with Peter
Sepulchre the Three Women His Disciples and Paul Th e Narrativity
[VII, 2] [V,2} [V , l ] [VII, 4]
o f th e Frame

VI Acclamation (?) Advent of Christ

[IV, 2) [VI, 4]

Christ Prophesying Christ Before Christ Before Crucifixion

Peter's Denial Caiaphas Pilate and [ VII, 1]
[V,3] [III, 4] Carrying the Cross
[III, 1]

rv (Nativity Scene) (Baptism of Christ) Miracles of Christ Ascension of

[VI, 1] Christ
[VI, 3]

FIGURE 3

Adoration of the
Magi (?) Diagrammatic
[VII, 3] reconstruction o f th e
original placing o f
th e panels o f th e
Calling of Moses Crossing of the Red Miracles of Moses Ascension of
portal o f Santa
[IV, 1] Sea [VI, 2] Elijah
[IV, 3] [IV, 4] Sabina, R o m e . Key:
(?) = t h e o r i g i n a l
position o f th e relief
is u n c e r t a i n . ( ) = t h e
r e l i e f h as n o t b e e n
preserved, but can b e
reconstructed w i t h a
(Jonah Cast into (Jonah Disgorged Rescue of (Daniel in the
the Sea) (?) Habakkuk (?) Lions' Den) (?) fair d e g r e e o f
by the Whale) (?)
[V.4] certainty. [ ] = t h e
position o f th e relief
today.

From observing the framework alone we thus proceed with the follow­
ing premises to testing th e relationsh ip between th e door itself and th e struc­
ture. We sh all need to consider th e claims of two forms of organization, th e
line and th e axis. And we h ave to see how we can accommodate th e two for­
mats, how we can approach th e question of conceiving th em independently,
or in relation to one anoth er.
Th e issue of reconstructing th e pictorial program h as never been seri­
ously approach ed. Without becoming immersed in a long discussion of ques­
tions of detail, I base my analysis h ere on an argument I h ave elaborated else­
wh ere.15 A n Old Testament representation and nine N e w Testament stories
 18 are preserv ed as exemplars of the small panels. A written tradition has docu-
Wolfgang Kemp mented the earlier existence of one further small panel ofJonah and the Wliale.
In the case of the large panels we still hav e four reliefs with themes from the
Old Testament and two with themes from the New, as well as two depictions
of a representativ e or thematic nature. So from the outset, the notion of a ty­
pological structuring is present. The existence among the large panels of two
pairs of pictures that are both theologically and formally related (the Miracles
of Moses / Miracles of Christ, and the Ascension of Elijah / Ascension of Christ),
cries out for a continuation of the quest to complete the reconstruction.
M y reconstruction starts with a dualism that is not simply preestablished
by the configuration of the panels — that is, the two door wings equal the two
testaments — but arises through the interaction between the framework and
the door itself. The hypothesis continues in the direction of a dual pictorial
program being formulated with two formats and directions, a program con­
sisting of two narratives, or rather two ways of molding a (hi)story with
Christian intent. One order articulates the linear and consecutive aspects of
the narrative — the story of salvation as a syntagm. Its form comprises the
panels in horizontal format that form a sequence. The other order addition­
ally gives expression to the vertical and relational aspects of the model — the
story of salvation as syntagm and paradigm. Its form comprises the panels in
vertical format, which are read in two directions. They are positioned under­
neath each other in terms of their axes, and through an additive effect be­
come narrative sequences.
From the scheme in Figure 3 it becomes evident how I conceive the dis­
tribution of narrative. If we pair the Rescu e of Habakku k with Daniel in the Li­
ons' Den, and the scripturally attested Jonah Cast into the Sea with his equally
necessary evacuation (Jonah Disgorged by the Wliale), we have filled in the posi­
tions of the lowest line (I) with two paradigms of Old Testament salvation
that predestine the New. This observation does not necessarily entail struc­
tural consequences; that is, it does not require overarching connections and
the harmonization of individual elements, as does the other ordering. The
Old and the New Testament bear a relationship of sequence, not of figura­
tion. Above this line, which forms a kind of predella to the door, the life of
Christ is narrated in rows III, V, and VII. O f the third line, which would re­
quire the caption Childhood and Public Ministry , we have only the Adoration of
the Magi; the fifth, with its four Passion scenes, is most probably complete; the
seventh, which is likewise complete, would then have as its theme the Resur­
rection and its consequences.
Rows II, IV, and VI, with their vertical-format reliefs, may then be read
horizontally. Four scenes from the story of Moses and Elijah (II), four stages
in the life of Christ (IV), four states — probably the best way of putting it — of
the age of perfected salvation (VI). But additionally these reliefs have a verti­
cal connection, as is suggested by their format and the essential framing ele­
ments. The Old Testament prefigures the scenes of the New, and these in turn
give an inkling of the supratemporal relationships, of the ultimate k ingdom of
the Lord (a relationship that cannot be established so easily through the other
temporal stages because the quality o f sequentiality is missing). C a r r y i n g both
orders through to their logical conclusion requires that an element or a line
o f the other order has to be disregarded to progress w i t h reading or to m o v e
up or d o w n the typological axes. T o rephrase that in positive terms: b o t h nar­
rative complexes b egin to cross over and to f o r m a k i n d o f texture in the
course o f reading. T h e t w o orders reconstructed here exist in their o w n right,
b ut they also s h o w solidarity w i t h each other. T h e y share the story o f salva­
tion, so that there are n o repetitions, b ut instead the t w o f o l d development
demonstrates that this material has the potential for m a n y narrative versions,
each m a k i n g sense in its o w n right, and all w i t h the capacity to b e correlated,
a trib ute to the logos " p o l y m e r o s kai p o l y t r o p o s " — to the W o r d proclaimed
" i n m a n y and various ways" (Heb . 1:1). In terms o f shared structural features
it is w o r t h emphasizing that the linearity followed b y b o t h narrative orders is
not w i t h o u t the higher seal o f approval o f the systematic order: each r o w is
tantamount to b eing a sectional or strophic division o f the narrative into
chapters or b o o k s .
T o summarize these thoughts, the c o m p l e x pictorial system, determined
in equal measure b y framing and change o f format, does indeed have an i n ­
v o l v e m e n t w i t h time, b ut n o t in the sense o f those narrative properties that
the nineteenth and twentieth centuries cultivated — sequentiality and acceler­
ation (Toepffer) a n d / o r simultaneity and contrastive value (Eisenstein). T h i s
portal is, rather, i m b u e d w i t h the Christian n o t i o n o f ranging across all t e m ­
poral levels ( O l d Testament, N e w Testament, the eschatological future), o f
their vertical correlation and horizontal logic. T h e configuration o f the
framework is b o t h the expression and the means o f a theology that finds its
revelation in history. O n e c o u l d say that the i m m a n e n t aim o f such achieve­
ments in structuration is not the temporal figure (Toepffer, Eisenstein), b ut
the historical one.

• • *
In the last section I turn m y attention to the G o t h i c stained-glass w i n d o w s o f
northern France, w h i c h just after 1200 A.D. developed a previously u n k n o w n
c o m p l e x i t y in their m e d i u m and i n the art o f ordering. For a relatively short
time stained-glass w i n d o w s in the cathedral emb race a w h o l e , u n d i v i d e d w i n ­
d o w opening. A s early as 1215 the era o f the architectural w i n d o w b egins,
m e a n i n g that the o p e n i n g is sub divided b y stone pillars or tracery into rela­
tively narrow fields or complicated forms. 1 6 Before that it had b een in the
p o w e r o f the dispositores to sub divide the w h o l e surface into large geometric
shapes through armatures o f iron, lead settings and fields o f various stars, b los­
soms and quatrefoil compositions that appear o n c e or repeatedly. T h e s e larger
forms, w h i c h constitute the primary framing system, are in turn sub divided
into fields that serve as frames for a narrative scene or part scene. W e are deal­
ing w i t h an age that feels the manic c o m p u l s i o n to divide and sub divide.' 7
 20 It is hard to imagine a narrative text required to arrange its episodes into
suc
Wolfgang Kemp ^ dependent, fragmented framing forms — into semicircles or quarter cir­
cles, blossom leaves, h alf or w h o l e quatrefoils, and so forth . Frequently o n l y
small parts o f th e action are a c c o m m o d a t e d w i t h i n th ese frames, w i t h th e ac­
tion continuing in oth er fields comprising o f up to th ree furth er segments. In
v i e w o f th is structure it seems almost impossible for a pictorial narrator to
plan a narrative in such a way th at th e sh ape o f th e field is adapted to th e re­
quirements o f each narrative m o m e n t . H e can, o f course, adapt th e n u m b e r o f
frames required to th e significance o f th e event, or th rough t h e m sh ape th e
r h y t h m o f th e narrative flow, but h e cannot, i n th e way th at (for instance)
Toepffer does, make th e f o r m o f each frame c o n f o r m individually to th e par­
ticular events o f each scene.
D o e s th at mean th at narrative and framework appear in an unequal rela­
tionsh ip, th at a desire to o r n a m e n t and subdivide resh apes and stands in th e
way o f th e narrative delivery? First o f all w e h ave to realize th at th e tech nique
o f structuring surfaces presented th e narrative w i t h a great n u m b e r o f fields,
always easy to read. N e v e r before h ad so m a n y different stories b e e n present
in th e Ch ristian ch urch . A t g r o u n d level cath edrals like Paris, Ch artres, or
Bourges h ad forty or fifty medallion w i n d o w s , each with fifteen to th irty
scenic units. T w o th ings followed f r o m th is: first th at th e art o f narrating in
pictures experienced an e n o r m o u s upsurge, and second th at a climate of
c o m p e t i t i o n , o f experimentation and o f rapid exch ange, arose. B o t h i n d i v i d ­
ual pictures and m o r e extended narrative cycles point to th e fact th at th e n a r ­
rative can develop w i t h m o r e freedom, m o r e creativity, and a coh erent inter­
nal structure. Sh ort and l o n g sequences, and structural divisions such as
beginning, end, or climaxes, were w o r k e d out m o r e precisely th an previously,
since m u c h c o u l d be assumed and oth er aspects needed o n l y be alluded to.
A furth er question is th en directed at th e relationsh ip between narrative
and geometric structuring o f th e w i n d o w surface. It is clear th at someth ing
equivalent to an organization by ch apters can be expected o f a f i v e - p o i n t e d
star sh ape or a quatrefoil w i t h a central motif. A u g u s t Sch marsow, th e first i n ­
vestigator o f th e narrative structures o f w i n d o w s , h ad applied th is expectation
to th e w i n d o w s o f th e Ch artres cath edral and p o i n t e d to th e fact th at in th e
twelfth and th irteenth centuries totally n e w forms arose in literature, p r o ­
claiming a need for compreh ensible structures. 18 ( T h e b e s t - k n o w n example
is th e sonnet, w h i c h w e o w e to th is e p o c h o f th e lyric.) Certainly it is n o t
altogeth er easy to demonstrate th is coordination o f figure and narrative.
Sch marsow h imself did n o t succeed; oth ers after h i m approach ed th e issue
f r o m th e w r o n g angle, namely th e iconograph ic aspect, and wanted to read
" m e a n i n g " into th e geometric sh apes, or else th ey d e m a n d e d t o o m u c h and
required all medallion w i n d o w s to h ave a consonance o f narrative and struc­
tural underpinnings. 1 9 T h e real state o f affairs, o n th e oth er h and, is th at m a n y
dispositores c o u l d not meet th e n e w ch allenge o f a narrative in figures, w h i l e
oth ers invented forms o f interaction between framework and narrative th at
probably eclipse everyth ing possible before or since.
 FIGURE 4

(Far left) P r o d i g a l S o n
W i n d o w , Bourges
Cathedral.

FIGURE 5

Diagrammatic
represen tation o f the
Prodigal S o n
W i n d o w , Bourges

o
Cathedral. Key: 1 , 2 ,

o 3 , sign atories o f t h e
Tan n ers' G u i l d ; 4, the
prodigal son deman ds
his i n h e r i t a n c e f r o m
his f a t h e r ; 5, h e
receives his i n h e r ­
i t a n c e ; 6, t h e elder

D Q
s o n i n t h e fields ; 7,
the prodigal s on
leaves his father's
h o u s e ; 8, arrival at t h e
t a v e r n ; 9, p r o d i g a l s o n

j?
m e t b y t h e harlots ;

mk 10, c r o w n i n g o f t h e
p r o d i g a l s o n ; 11, h e is

D O
cas t o u t ; 12, h e

i g a m b l e s a w a y his
i n h e r i t a n c e ; 13, h e is

i cas t o u t a s e c o n d
t i m e ; 14, h e hires
h i m s e l f o u t as a
s w i n e h e r d ; 15, h e
experiences remors e;

D Q
16, h e r e t u r n s home
in clothing o f a
s w i n e h e r d ; 17,
s laughtering o f the
fatted calf; 18, feas t at

m his father's h o u s e ; 19,

return h o m e o f the
elder s o n ; 2 0 , t h e
p r o d i g a l s o n is

I am speaki ng of several forms of cooperati on, but here I can go i nto r e u n i t e d w i t h his
father and brother.
only one of the most spectacular cases. In the Prodi gal Son Wi ndow i n
Bourges (about 1210 A.D.) we fi nd the bi bli cal parable expanded at great
length (Fi g. 4). In seventeen narrati ve fields the life of the prodigal son is de­
picted in great detail. The narrative flows with incredible continuity through
the difficult figures of the q uatrefoils with their five sections and of the tri­
partite rows formed by a circle and two half-q uatrefoils.20 This much may be 21
reconstructed from the illustrations and the explanation in the key (Fig. 5).
 22 What is not immediately legible is the use of f igures to promote a narrative
Wolf gang Kemp development (f igures that get in the way of comprehension when reading).
Here we are not f ar away f rom Eisenstein's demand f or "thematic ef f ects."
Each scene in the window (with the exception of the representations of the
donors [1—3] and the reconciliation scene) has a narrative counterpart. Each
scene is mirrored across an axis separating the various orders: good and evil,
home and f oreign parts, above and below, bef ore and af ter, seriousness and
joking.
O f course the eight pairs do not yield consistently smooth rhythms. At
times the narrator has to seek ref uge in mere analogies of f orm that have no
status within the narrative. A comparison between the two three-f igure rows
(9—11, 17—19) leads us into this problem area. They are dedicated to the two
f easts in the parable — the son's revels in the tavern and the celebration of his
return to the paternal home. Both round middle sections (10, 18) relate to
each other as analogous in f orm and event, while the details can be recog­
nize d as diffe re nt ve rsions of the same proce ss, divide d into good and e vil.
That is the norm. Thus 4 and 12 yield "smooth rhythms" of this kind - the
prodigal son de mands his inhe ritance from his fathe r/he lose s at gambling; 5
and 13 — he ge ts the mone y and bids fare we ll to his fathe r/he is thrown out
of the inn; 7 and 15 - he ride s off like a knight into the distance /he has to
look afte r anothe r man's pigs; 8 and 16 - he is re ce ive d into the tave rn/
we lcome d back into his father's house .
Harde r to unde rstand are analogies such as those inte nde d at the side s of
the fe asting sce ne s. The banishing of the prodigal son (11) and the re turn of
the e lde r son from the fie ld (19) have nothing in common at the le ve l of
e ve nts. The artist manage s to find he re at least the common factor of corre ­
sponde nce of form — in both case s we have a scene with two figure s on the
thre shold of inside and outside of the fie ld of re pre se ntation. Episode s 9 and
17 offe r a further variation of this mirroring, bearing no formal analogy and
only a re lative ly we ak narrative concordance . Above and be low the fe ast is
be ing prepared: in one case through the gre e ting and crowning of the prodi­
gal son in the brothel, in the othe r through the slaughte r of the fatte d calf on
his re turn to his fathe r's house . The mirroring he re cre ate s se nse more as a
humorous me taphor than from the positive -ne gative orde ring — the prodigal
son is decked out like a beast for slaughte r by the harlots, and fe te d so that af­
te rward he can be "taken apart."21
Compare d with the portal of Santa Sabina the relationship be twe e n pane l
(narrative ) and frame work has be e n both complicate d and simplifie d. Sim­
plifie d, because the story told has a strong se nse of se que nce . Complicate d,
be cause this narrative flow — that is, a whole story and not just single e pisode s
or se ctions — is transforme d through framing into an argume nt. A se que nce
and a system, both a structural and narrative conne ction, are combine d with
e ach othe r. It looks like the que stion of the corre ct format and the claims of
Christian art were inseparable right to the e nd.
 I cl ose with a final excursion into fil m history, to the year 1953. Although
the wide-screen technique of CinemaScope was first used in the fil m How to
Marry a Millionaire (directed by Jean Negul esco), Twentieth-Century Fox hel d
this film back so as to bring out first the film version of the Passion of Christ
titl ed The Robe (directed by Henry Koster). The era of the big fil ms was to be
ushered in by the biggest theme of all.
 N o t e s to Pages
4-14

WOLFGANG KEMP - THE NARRATIVITY OF THE FRAME

1. S tephen Heath, Questions of Cinema (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1981), p. 11.
2. Ibid.
3. S ergei Eisenstein.'The Dynamic S quare," a lecture given to the Technicians Branch o f the
Academy o f Motion Picture Arts and S ciences, Fox Hill S tudios, Hollywood, 17 S eptem­
ber 1930, published in Cl ose Up (March-June 1931); translation used here in Sergei Eisen-
stein, Das dynamische Quadrat: Schriften zum Fil m (Leipzig: Reclam, 1991).
4. T h e key texts are collected in Wolfgang K e m p (ed.), Theorie der Fotografie, vol. 2, 1 9 1 2 - 4 5
(Munich: Schirmer/Mosel, 1979), p. 76. O n the question o f extreme high or low v i e w ­
points see idem., Foto-Essays: Zur Gesc
l iichte und Theorie der Fotografie (Munich:
Schirmer/Mosel, 1978).
5. Eisenstein, Das dynamische Quadrat, p. 162.
6. Ibid., p. 176.
7. David K unzle, The History of the Comic Strip: The Nineteenth Century (Los Angeles: Univer­
sity o f California Press, 1989).
8. G. V. Graevenitz, "Menioria und Realismus: Erzahlende Literatur in der deutschen 'Bil-
dungspresse' des 19. Jahrhunderts," in A . Haverkamp and R . Lachmann (eds.), Memoria:
Vergessen und Erinnern (Munich: Fink, 1993), p. 271.
9. R o d o l p h e Toepffer, Histoire de M.Jabot (Geneva: n.p., 1833), p. 39.
10. Friedrich Schlegel, Fragmente zur Poesie und Literatur, edited by H . Eichner (K ritische
Friedrich-Schlegel edition) vol. 17, no. 1 (Munich: Fink, 1981), p. 92.
11. C. Gilbert, "Peintres et m enuisiers au debut de la Renaissance italienne," in Revue de VArt,
37 (1977), p. 44.
12. O n the com posite character o f m edieval art see Wolfgang Kem p, "Medieval Pictorial Sys­
tems," in B. Cassidy (ed.), Ico no graphy at the Cro ssro ads (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton Univer­
sity Press, 1993).
13. This does not refer to Eisenstein's aesthetics o f film, which we have already seen as aiming
to create its effects from precisely this confrontation o f visibly different pictorial units.
14. B. Jeremias, Die Ho lztiir der Basilika S. Sabina in Rom (Tubingen: Wasmuth, 1980).
15. Wolfgang Kemp, Christliche Kunst: Ihre Anfange, ihre Strukturen (Munich: Schirmer/Mosel,
1994).
16. O n the relationship between w i n d o w opening, ornamentation and glass painting see W o l f ­
gang Kemp, "Parallelismus als Formprinzip: Z u m Bibelfenster der Dreikonigskapelle des
Kolner Doms," Kblner o
D mblatt, 56 (1991), p. 259.
17. A t that time it was possible for a theologian to define the art o f proclamation in church -
namely the sermon - in the terms, "the interpretation o f H o l y Scripture by division and
subdivision." Cited in R a y m o n d F. Howes, Histo rical Studies o f Rheto ric and Rhet
o ricians
(Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1961), p. 82.
18. A . Schmarsow, Ko mpo sitio nsgesetze in der Kunst des Mittelalters (Bonn-
L eipzig: Kurt
Schroder, 1919-22).
19. S. G. Nichols, Ro manesque Signs: Early Medieval Narratives and Ico no graphy (New Haven,
Conn.:Yale University Press, 1983), p. 95.
20. For a more detailed discussion o f the w i n d o w see Wolfgang Kemp, Sermo oc rp
o reus: Die
Erzdhlung der mittelalterlichen Glasfenster (Munich: Schirmer/Mosel, 1987), pp. 4 6 - 5 6 .
21. In a favorite book o f the Middle Ages devoted to the sayings o f Solomon, there is a tale
about a "foolish lad" w h o falls for a wench dressed up as a prostitute: " H e immediately fol­
lows her, like an ox to the slaughter."