medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
My impression is thatmedieval and Ren. artists are quite careful to
represent the religious habit accurnately, particuarly when the artist is a
member of the community whose member(s) are being depicted. The small
details of the habit are of great importance to the community (I even
overhead a conversation once among monks about the correct way to iron
them), and are not likely to be glossed over or changed to somehow respond
to an artistic convention or aesthetic requirement.
jw
-----Original Message-----
From: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Chris Laning
Sent: Wednesday, February 26, 2003 2:55 PM
To: John Wickstrom
Subject: Re: Franciscan habit colour - grey or brown
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
At 8:47 AM -0500 2/24/03, Tom Izbicki wrote:
>medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
>
>I am working on regulation of clerical dress just now, & 13th century
>synodal decrees on the habits of religious refer to black or brown,
>sometimes "nigra bruna" together. Nothing specifies gray, but the friars
>are not as often mentioned as are monks & canons.
>Tom Izbicki
Interesting! But it makes sense if the "black" isn't dyed-black but
natural-black from the color of the wool.
I had been until recently under the impression that brown, as such,
was pretty much exclusive to Franciscans and Carmelites (and the
occasional organized hermit group). Since brown habits with rope
girdles do seem to be the "default" image in a lot of non-historians'
minds when they think of the clothing of male religious before 1600,
I've been trying to educate a few people out of that notion. (It's
one of my pet peeves <g>.)
References to "nigra bruna" make me think that I've been
over-simplifying a bit too much in promoting specifically black or
gray. It makes me wonder if the depiction of monastic habits in art
as solidly black is as much an artistic convention as I already know
to be the case in the depiction of unbleached "white" habits as
solidly white (i.e. as not the natural off-white color but
white-white).
--
_________________________________________________________
O Chris Laning
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+ Davis, California
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