arco de ensayo y replanteo

Tracy Byrne (asker) Oct 15, 2015:

@ Phil I've checked out when Mudejar style became popular in Spanish architecture and it did start around 1200, so I think the main gist of the text is that it was a relatively new style when it was used, in the sense that it's an "attempt" at a Mudejar arch. Though exactly how I'm going to phrase it is quite another matter!

Tracy Byrne (asker) Oct 15, 2015:

@ Charles Thanks for all the research. Like you, I still haven't found anything similar to the use of the terms in my text. Perhaps the problem of using the normal meaning of "replanteo" is that the text is describing what an existing arch looks like rather than how it was built.

Charles Davis Oct 14, 2015:

(Continued) So maybe "arco de ensayo y replanteo" means something like an arch marked out ad hoc. I'm by no means confident enough of this to post it, though.

It's important to bear in mind that this refers to an arco de descarga, a relieving arch set into the wall to distribute the load.

Charles Davis Oct 14, 2015:

@Tracy I'm pretty sure that "arco" means "arch". I don't think "ensayo y replanteo" is exactly "trial and error", though I suspect it's not far from that. I haven't had much luck trying to research this expression, which seems to occur nowhere else but in this particular description. However, I think "replanteo" is probably being used in its technical sense:

"replantear
2. tr. Constr. Trazar sobre el terreno, a escala natural, las líneas que marcan los cimientos de un edificio."
http://dle.rae.es/?w=replantear&o=h

This may provide a clue:
"Para la realización del arco, el constructor romano replanteaba sobre el terreno la figura a realizar (el intradós) [...].
Del dibujo del suelo determinaba una plantilla en la que se identificaba las dovelas del salmer [...], después se calculaba la anchura del arco y por último tomar medidas del replanteo remitiéndolo a los canteros para realizar las dovelas a medida en los bloques de sillares de cantería"
http://histarcon.blogspot.com.es/2014/04/el-arco-de-medio-pu...

In other words, "replanteo" could mean marking out the arch on the ground and then making a template.

(Continued in next post)

Tracy Byrne (asker) Oct 14, 2015:

Not sure about "arc" but I think your suggestion of "trial and error" could very well be right. I'll check whether the Mudejar style was in its infancy around 1200 - in which case the sentence makes much more sense! Thanks...

philgoddard Oct 14, 2015:

Is it possible that the second "arco" means something other than "arch"? Could it be "arc" in the sense of a process, so "a process of trial and error"? That's just a wild guess, so it could be completely wrong.