Some art from our discussion, April 18

As Saving Paradise enters the era of the Crusades, Professor Bob Pelfrey continues to introduce us to significant art and images not mentioned in the book. On April 18, Bob’s pictures led us from monastery gardens (gardens which were signs – even icons – of  paradise),  to the stunning visions of Hildegard of Bingen (visions which depicted a God of creativity – not punishment), to the new cathedrals rising throughout Europe (whose windows reflected the glory – not the anger – of God).  

The cloister as paradise

Clairvaux Abbey – plan of gardens

Note the three garden plots (in green) 

each garden divided into sections by the cross.

Clairvaux Abbey – interior arches

An invitation to walk in peace.

 

Clairvaux Abbey – cloister and garden

Hildegard’s Viriditas

 

Hildegard receives a vision

Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) was a German abbess; she was also an artist, author, composer, counselor, herbalist, linguist, naturalist, philosopher, poet, scientist and visionary.   

While Saving Paradise doesn’t examine Hildegard’s visions, her theology is based on them. Through her visions Hildegard experienced the cosmos as filled with God’s viriditas (divine greening, divine creativity); and she believed that the human body (and human feelings) are also part of God’s cosmos.

Hildegard suffered from a number of illnesses, and it was only when she began to speak of her visions that she started to experience healing.  Therefore, she came to believe that her visions were sent from God and should to be passed on to others. 

After Hildegard described her visions, the texts were "illuminated." In the medieval period, illuminations were more than decorations; pictures were thought to convey the message even more strongly than written words.  (While Hildegard did not make the illustrations herself, historians think she oversaw their production, as shown in the illumination above.) 

 Hildegard’s Vision – “Drying up”

In Hildegard's thought God’s viriditas ‘greens’ the cosmos; 

human sin is ‘drying up’

Hildegard's vision - "Six Days of Creation, Renewed by Christ"

 For more about Hildegard of Bingen

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/med/hildegarde.html  

(for a review of her life and works)

http://www.macalester.edu/~warren/courses/Hildegard/art.html  

(for slides of her illuminations)

Christians on pilgrimage

... to Mossaic

The Church of Saint-Pierre, Moissac was one of the stopping points in southern France on the great pilgrimage road to Santiago de Compostela. The church and its cloister host one of the greatest and best preserved collections of Romanesque sculpture in France.

 

St. Pierre, Mossaic

Note the cloister garden

 

Jeremiah detail, St. Pierre, Mossaic

 Among  the sculptures at Moissac is a famous carving of the prophet Jeremiah; his face, unusually well preserved for a sculpture positioned so easily within reach of vandals, is delicate and expressive. The entire effect is not one of portraiture, but instead one of idealized spirituality and reflection.

…to Vezelay

The Abbey of St. Mary Magdalene at Vezelay was another of the  major stopping points on the great pilgrimage road to Santiago de Compostela. The church and cloister host one of the greatest and best preserved collections of Romanesque sculpture in France. 

 St. Marie-Magdalen, Vezelay

In 1095 the fiery sermon of Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux, preached here on the hill outside Vezelay's Basilica, started the Second Crusade.

 Vezelay interior

 …to Autun

 The Autun Cathedral is a magnificent display of Romanesque Art and Architecture. The sculptures created by Gislebertus – from the size and quality of the tympanum of the Last Judgment to and the lintel of the Temptation of Eve – are are impressive and exquisitely detailed pieces of art. 

Autun tympanum

We’ve seen Gislebertus’ sculptures before – this tympanum shows the Last Judgment, with angels and demons weighing souls for heaven or hell. 

The three Magi asleep

But Gislebertus carved many other sculptures at Autun  – for instance, here an angel tenderly covers the three Magi as they sleep.  

 Eve at Autun

Here Eve picks her apple 

(notice her face, which doesn’t seem aware of what her hand is doing)

....to St. Denis

The Cathedral Basilica of Saint Denis is now surrounded by the suburbs of Paris.  The site originated as a Gallo-Roman cemetery, in late Roman times, and later an abbey was built near the cemetery.  In the 12th century the Abbot Suger rebuilt portions of the old abbey church. In doing so, he is said to have created the first truly Gothic building.

Window at St. Denis

… and on to Chartres

Join us for our discussion next week (April 25), when Bob Pelfrey takes us on pilgrimage to Chartres. 

Abbot Suger in a window at Chartres