The construction of a medieval vault was a complex process involving a large team of individuals, each possessing a specific set of skills and technical expertise. It can be divided into two distinct phases: stonecutting and stonelaying. Stonecutting is the process of converting the geometry of medieval vault designs into a set of individual stone blocks, guided by a set of wooden templates representing the curvature and molding profiles of the ribs. Masons proceeded in a series of iterative stages, using incised lines to mark out the geometry on the surfaces of the stone and cutting away the excess before moving on to the fine carving and sculpture. Stonelaying is the process of assembling the vault by setting the individual stones in mortar. Walls were raised with the aid of scaffolding and the tas-de-charge stones were inserted at the appropriate level, usually above the abacus of the supporting capitals. The structure of the vault was provided by a wooden framework of centering, providing a bed onto which the voussoirs and bosses of the ribs could be laid. Once the ribs had been put in place, the stonelayers moved on to the webs in between. These did not always follow the curvatures established by the ribs, but were often a focal point of creativity in their own right, with a range of different stonelaying techniques being used to define the shape of the webbing.
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