Figure 1
(left) Musicians surrounded by fabric.
Source: Livre des propriétés des choses de Barthélemy l’Anglais, traduit du latin par Jean Corbichon, c.1445–50 (detail). Courtesy: Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris, Département des Manuscrits, Français 22532, f. 336r. Public domain.
(right) At St Albans Cathedral, the shaft bases of the medieval windows (which now appear stranded) were positioned to finish above the draperies that once caught downdraughts off the glass.
Source: Isabelle Lapore.
Figure 2
Heat loss from the human body according to the 33 Node Comfort Model, assuming light clothing and an environment with equal surface and air temperatures at the values shown on the x-axis, and an air velocity of 0.1 m/s.
Source: Adapted from Streblow (2010).
Figure 3
Medieval images usually show the windows open, even in winter.
Source: Barthélemy d’Eyck et le Maître du Boccace de Genève, c.1460 (detail); from Le Livre de Thezeo. Courtesy: Austrian National Library (ONB), Vienna, Codex Vindobonensis Palatinus 2617, f. 14v. Public domain.
Figure 4
In Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s wedding paintings, the brides (who cannot dance) are protected from radiant chilling by cloths hung behind them, from walls or even trees.
Source: Pieter Bruegel the Elder, The Peasant Wedding, 1567. Courtesy: Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. Public domain.
Figure 5
In a series entitled ‘The Four Conditions of Society’, ‘Poverty’ depicts a house with draperies (with holes in these as well as in walls and roof).
Source: Jean Bourdichon, Les quatre états de la société, 1500–10. Courtesy: Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris, MS Fr. 2374. Public Domain.
Figure 6
Late 19th-century advertisement for awnings.
Source: English Heritage (2011: 154).
Figure 7
Manuscript illustrations reveal many elements used for comfort that have since been forgotten.
Source: Christine de Pizan Presents her Manuscript to Queen Isabeau of Bavaria, France, c.1410–14 (detail). Courtesy: British Library, London, Harley MS 4431, f. 3r. Public domain. Annotations: Robyn Pender.