JiscMail Logo
Email discussion lists for the UK Education and Research communities

Help for MEDIEVAL-RELIGION Archives


MEDIEVAL-RELIGION Archives

MEDIEVAL-RELIGION Archives


MEDIEVAL-RELIGION@JISCMAIL.AC.UK


View:

Message:

[

First

|

Previous

|

Next

|

Last

]

By Topic:

[

First

|

Previous

|

Next

|

Last

]

By Author:

[

First

|

Previous

|

Next

|

Last

]

Font:

Monospaced Font

LISTSERV Archives

LISTSERV Archives

MEDIEVAL-RELIGION Home

MEDIEVAL-RELIGION Home

MEDIEVAL-RELIGION  November 2011

MEDIEVAL-RELIGION November 2011

Options

Subscribe or Unsubscribe

Subscribe or Unsubscribe

Log In

Log In

Get Password

Get Password

Subject:

Re: photos: Arian Baptistry, Enger Cross, wooden reliquary

From:

Genevra Kornbluth <[log in to unmask]>

Reply-To:

medieval-religion - Scholarly discussions of medieval religious culture <[log in to unmask]>

Date:

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 15:26:25 -0500

Content-Type:

text/plain

Parts/Attachments:

Parts/Attachments

text/plain (113 lines)

medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture

In answer to Christopher Crockett's post regarding the reliquary
http://www.kornbluthphoto.com/TournaiWoodenRel.html

I became quite interested in the construction of the box while
photographing it-- hence the number of interior and technical shots.
Sarah Blick refers to the thing as 'home-made', and it is certainly much
cruder than the average museum fare. Many tool marks normally polished
away are still visible, and since I was (most unusually) allowed to open
and move the box around, I photographed them.

Iconography: Secular iconography was suggested on site. I believe that
the possibility was raised in part because of the shield badge. I saw no
scratching on its surface that would give hints of a former device. I do
not know terribly much about badges-- were they sometimes painted? If
so, perhaps a device was painted on. The man who confronts the female
figure on another badge (row 3 no. 1) is not in fact visibly tonsured,
though he wears what appears to be a cowl. (Henk, is that correct?) His
hair is unarticulated at the top of the head, but there is no sharp edge
setting off a shaven area (as on row 3 no. 3), and the hair is just a
bit long.

There is actually another iconographic issue among the badges. The
display label in Tournai identifies the scenes depicted in the lid
roundels (row 2, nos. 3 and 4) as the Annunciation, Nativity,
Visitation, and Mary at the foot of the cross: 4 scenes from the life of
Mary. The lower left scene, however, clearly shows the bearded Christ
embraced by a profile figure with lips pushed out. I interpret that
scene as the Betrayal, not the Visitation.

CC: it appears to be of sawn --rather than "riven" (split)-- oak. he seems to have *sawn* the boards from the bolt *length wise.* the saw was worked at a diagonal to the grain of the wood, as can be seen here in the more-or-less regular diagonal "kerfs" (marks made by the teeth of the saw), running from upper left to lower right

I decline to identify the wood on my web page because I do not have
authoritative information on it. It looks like oak to me as well, and
the file at Tournai specifies oak, but the display label there talks
about cypress wood. I too noticed the marks of the saw, precisely what I
was documenting in those close shots of the lid interior (row 4, nos. 4
and 5).

CC: [Note Genevra: "raking" light is best for catching surface details like this.]


Yes, raking light is needed to show them: I used sharply raking light
here, and made a composite of 3 different exposures for each image to
get a reasonably large area of the wood. That raking light of course
exaggerates the roughness of the wood, which is actually smooth to the
touch. This is rather like documenting drypoint marks on parchment,
which are normally just barely visible but can be made quite prominent
in a photo.

CC: the longitudinal striations are a bit puzzling --the only thing i can think of is that they were made with a plane "bit" (blade) which had quite a lot of nicks in it.


If you compare the close views with the more comprehensive shots of the
whole inside of the lid (row 4, nos. 2 and 3), you will see that the
striations are simply the long grain of the wood.

CC: the general roughness of the surfaces of the wood suggests to me that it was originally intended to have been covered with something --colored cloth (think: Red velvet) i should suspect, which would provide a nice background
for the open work of the "badges" and, particularly, the roundels-- which would have the added advantage of covering up the roughness and irregularities of the surfaces visible on all the boards.

Interesting idea! But I did not see (and do not now see in my photos)
the extra holes that the nails/tacks holding such cloth would surely
have left.

CC: the multiple (identical, note) "badges" and the roundels (identical, note)

Yes, the roundels are (or rather were before damage) identical. There
are 3 versions of the 2-figure group, in multiples:
row 2 no. 5: left figure with profile face and 3/4-view body; right
figure with arms extended out from body
row 3 nos. 2 and 3: left figure with profile face and 3/4-view body;
right figure with arms held close to face
row 3 no. 1: left figure, clearly female, fully in 3/4 view; right
figure fully in 3/4 view, arms both visible rather than one hidden by
the other
The architectural framework around each 2-figure group is a separate piece.

CC: are all attached by nails which are "clinched" (bent over) on the inside --a somewhat crude method of attaching them....in at least one case a nail has "run out" into the interior of the box

Yes, quite a few nails penetrate all the way through the wood, and many are bent over-- again, hardly high-quality professional work!

CC: the "hinges" ...are of the simplest type imaginable --just bent nails or pieces of thick wire strung through two holes in lid and back.

Yes, "wire hinges" as I label them. If you look at the back/lid view (row 1, no. 5) you can see the twisted wire on the outside.

CC: the (rather crude) vertical rabbets (groves) in both ends would appear to have been intended to receive a thin board which would have partitioned the interior into two parts, of unequal size (the narrowest in front).

Actually, the groove on one side (row 5, no. 1) is at the front of the box, and on the other side (row 5, no. 2) at the back, so they cannot have made a partition as you describe it. I think that those grooves, and the one on the interior of the base, may well be evidence of a previous use of the boards. That idea would, of course, depend on reading the gaps on the bottom as the result of something other than the shrinking of green wood.

CC: the less said about the pathetic attached mortice for the "lock" the better.

I found that wood-work quite interesting precisely because of its unofficial appearance. It seems to me that a non-professional has come up with a rather ingenious mechanism for keeping the box closed, one that uses an absolute minimum of metal (as do the wire hinges). The latch is a thin metal bar that slides from one side to the other (row 5 no. 5/row 6 no. 1). When slid over the notch in the box's front panel, it probably went into the metal catch on the lid (row 4 no. 5), which you can see through a break in the wood when the box is closed (row 1 no. 4). (I did not have quite enough chutzpah to force the lid all the way down, to see whether it would still work.) The thin bar has a small protrusion on the bottom (more visible in row 5 no. 4) that would have allowed it to be pushed to either side. There is a small hole through the wood of the box's front panel, within the borders of the center badge, the dark shadow above the right figure (row 3 no. 1); from above, you can see how it lines up with the interior catch mechanism (row 5 no. 3). No terribly elaborate key would be necessary, but something had to be inserted into that hole and turned in order to move the thin bar to the 'open' position.

CC: this ain't "high art," folks

No, indeed, but for me that is one of the things that makes it interesting. After all, when the grand prelates were commissioning reliquaries of gold and jewels, and the rich lay folk were wearing elaborate reliquary pendants, what was everyone else doing? During this last trip I photographed several reliquaries made with wood rather than metalwork and horn rather than rock crystal-- all to be in my archive once processed.

All best,
Genevra

**********************************************************************
To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME
to: [log in to unmask]
To send a message to the list, address it to:
[log in to unmask]
To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion
to: [log in to unmask]
In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to:
[log in to unmask]
For further information, visit our web site:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html

Top of Message | Previous Page | Permalink

JiscMail Tools


RSS Feeds and Sharing


Advanced Options


Archives

April 2024
March 2024
February 2024
January 2024
December 2023
November 2023
October 2023
September 2023
August 2023
July 2023
June 2023
May 2023
April 2023
March 2023
February 2023
January 2023
December 2022
November 2022
October 2022
September 2022
August 2022
July 2022
June 2022
May 2022
April 2022
March 2022
February 2022
January 2022
December 2021
November 2021
October 2021
September 2021
August 2021
July 2021
June 2021
May 2021
April 2021
March 2021
February 2021
January 2021
December 2020
November 2020
October 2020
September 2020
August 2020
July 2020
June 2020
May 2020
April 2020
March 2020
February 2020
January 2020
December 2019
November 2019
October 2019
September 2019
August 2019
July 2019
June 2019
May 2019
April 2019
March 2019
February 2019
January 2019
December 2018
November 2018
October 2018
September 2018
August 2018
July 2018
June 2018
May 2018
April 2018
March 2018
February 2018
January 2018
December 2017
November 2017
October 2017
September 2017
August 2017
July 2017
June 2017
May 2017
April 2017
March 2017
February 2017
January 2017
December 2016
November 2016
October 2016
September 2016
August 2016
July 2016
June 2016
May 2016
April 2016
March 2016
February 2016
January 2016
December 2015
November 2015
October 2015
September 2015
August 2015
July 2015
June 2015
May 2015
April 2015
March 2015
February 2015
January 2015
December 2014
November 2014
October 2014
September 2014
August 2014
July 2014
June 2014
May 2014
April 2014
March 2014
February 2014
January 2014
December 2013
November 2013
October 2013
September 2013
August 2013
July 2013
June 2013
May 2013
April 2013
March 2013
February 2013
January 2013
December 2012
November 2012
October 2012
September 2012
August 2012
July 2012
June 2012
May 2012
April 2012
March 2012
February 2012
January 2012
December 2011
November 2011
October 2011
September 2011
August 2011
July 2011
June 2011
May 2011
April 2011
March 2011
February 2011
January 2011
December 2010
November 2010
October 2010
September 2010
August 2010
July 2010
June 2010
May 2010
April 2010
March 2010
February 2010
January 2010
December 2009
November 2009
October 2009
September 2009
August 2009
July 2009
June 2009
May 2009
April 2009
March 2009
February 2009
January 2009
December 2008
November 2008
October 2008
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
June 2006
May 2006
April 2006
March 2006
February 2006
January 2006
December 2005
November 2005
October 2005
September 2005
August 2005
July 2005
June 2005
May 2005
April 2005
March 2005
February 2005
January 2005
December 2004
November 2004
October 2004
September 2004
August 2004
July 2004
June 2004
May 2004
April 2004
March 2004
February 2004
January 2004
December 2003
November 2003
October 2003
September 2003
August 2003
July 2003
June 2003
May 2003
April 2003
March 2003
February 2003
January 2003
December 2002
November 2002
October 2002
September 2002
August 2002
July 2002
June 2002
May 2002
April 2002
March 2002
February 2002
January 2002
December 2001
November 2001
October 2001
September 2001
August 2001
July 2001
June 2001
May 2001
April 2001
March 2001
February 2001
January 2001
December 2000
November 2000
October 2000
September 2000
August 2000
July 2000
June 2000
May 2000
April 2000
March 2000
February 2000
January 2000
December 1999
November 1999
October 1999
September 1999
August 1999
July 1999
June 1999
May 1999
April 1999
March 1999
February 1999
January 1999
December 1998
November 1998
October 1998
September 1998
August 1998
July 1998
June 1998
May 1998
April 1998
March 1998
February 1998
January 1998
December 1997
November 1997
October 1997
September 1997
August 1997
July 1997
June 1997
May 1997
April 1997
March 1997
February 1997
January 1997
December 1996
November 1996
October 1996
September 1996
August 1996
July 1996
June 1996
May 1996
April 1996


JiscMail is a Jisc service.

View our service policies at https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/policyandsecurity/ and Jisc's privacy policy at https://www.jisc.ac.uk/website/privacy-notice

For help and support help@jisc.ac.uk

Secured by F-Secure Anti-Virus CataList Email List Search Powered by the LISTSERV Email List Manager