Dear All,
A query relating to nuns and altarpieces. My work on the late C15th
alabaster retable of La Selle, Normandy, has led me to the conclusion
that its iconography is particularly pertinent to women, and that it may
have been commissioned by, or for, the nuns of the Benedictine abbey
of Saint-Sauveur, Evreux. I have recently been challenged about this theory,
on the basis that the nuns would have been restricted to the choir of
their abbey church, and hence unable to see any altarpiece. If this
is true then it would have been pointless to have commissioned an
altarpiece that was supposed to appeal to them.
I have done a considerable amount of chasing around trying to find
out to what extent the nuns would have been claustrated in the period
1480-1515ish, but so far to no avail. It seems that all the available
work done on nuns and claustration refers to the C12th and C13th, and
hence is of little use to me. Can anyone refer me to any work that
may be pertinent? Ideally something like Penelope Johnson's 'Equal in
Monastic Profession' (Chicago, 1991), which deals with the right
area, ie Northern France, but at the wrong time for me!
Furthermore, I have some observations for anyone who might like to
respond to my theory:
(1) There is no extant groundplan of the abbey or its church
(2) Presumably the nuns would only need to be kept out of the nave
(where an altar would be visible) if the abbey church was used as a
parish church. I have no direct evidence about the use of St-Sauveur's
church, but surely it is at least a possibility that it was not routinely used by laity.
(3) The retable was definitely not used at the high altar (there is
evidence of what the high altarpiece looked like, and it is quite
different, and alabaster is definitely a lower status material which
would not be used at a high altar). This implies that it was used at
a secondary altar or in a side chapel. Would the nuns have had access
to these places?
(4) Is there any possibility that the retable could have been
situated inside the claustrated area, eg in a private chapel for the
abbess? I have been told that claustrated nuns have no need of
altars, as they are given communion through a grille, and the priest
does not enter the claustrated area except in extremis. But surely it
is not impossible that the retable was a special gift that was
intended to be placed inside the restricted area?
(5) In default of direct evidence about the degree of claustration
that generally pertained at the time, is it reasonable to suggest
that it may have broken down to the extent that nuns would use the
nave, regardless of whether or not laity were also using it? There is
certainly evidence about laxity in some aspects of claustration
earlier, eg visits to and by nuns which involved breaking the rules.
I'm writing this more in hope than expectation, but I need to feel
that every angle of dispute is covered!
Many thanks, Sam Riches
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|