Francine Nicholson wrote:
>They [Cistercians] also eschewed stained glass in their churches.
not quite, to picque the knit of what "stained" means.
the early C churches apparently had quite elaborate "programs" of grisaille
glass, usually (i think) "clear" glass "painted" with a kind of wash of grey
"stain", laid out in frequently marvelous geometric designs, virtually all of
which has been lost.
(the making of grisaille, with an example, is discussed by Pipin
Michelli [lately of this list, and perhaps soon to be again] as part of her
"Art History Brouser":
http://www.ariadne.org/studio/michelli/ --follow the "Stained Glass"
link on the left bar.)
what the earliest generations of Cistercians eschewed was the use of
"immoderate" *monastic* art of any type (e.g., excessively large
churches, or "distracting" images --painted, sculpted, "stained," of whatever
sort-- the ideological justification of which eschewination was given by
Abelard's good friend, the Humble and Amiable Bernie, in the latter's
_Apologia_ to William of St. Thierry, available, in part, on the web at
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/bernard1.html .
"...the enormous height, extravagant length and unnecessary width of the
churches, of their costly polishings and curious paintings which catch
the worshipper's eye and dry up his devotion....There is no comparison here
between bishops and monks. We know that the bishops, debtors to both the wise
and unwise, use material beauty to arouse the devotion of a carnal people
because they cannot do so by spiritual means. But we who have now come out of
that people, we who have left the precious and
lovely things of the world for Christ, we who, in order to win
Christ, have reckoned all beautiful, sweet-smelling, fine-sounding,
smooth-feeling, good-tasting things-- in short, all bodily
delights--as so much dung, what do we expect to get out of them? Admiration
from the foolish? Offerings from the ignorant? Or, scattered
as we are among the gentiles, are we learning their tricks and serving their
idols?"
knit picqueingly yours,
christopher
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