Joyce Bellinger and Mildred Pitcairn in Glencairn’s cloister (1957). Beginning in 1947 Bellinger, originally from Canada, lived and worked at Glencairn while attending Bryn Athyn College. Within a few years she became Glencairn’s full-time housekeeper and Mildred Pitcairn’s personal assistant.
TheBasilica of Saint-Remi in Reims, France, is medieval abbey church that was founded in the 11th century. It is named for St. Remi (Remigius in English), a 5th century bishop of noble birth. His father was the Count of Laon, and his mother was the daughter of the Bishop of Soissons. (Let that sink in.) As a young man, he was such a devout and gifted scholar he was elected Bishop of Reims at the age of 21, even though he was not a priest. So, he was ordained and consecrated bishop in the same ceremony. (I suppose it didn’t hurt that his grandfather was a bishop.)
Remi befriended Clovis, King of the Franks, and eventually baptized him in 496, thus bringing Christianity to the Franks. His tomb is in the basilica.
I received a message from someone today who wants to propose to his girlfriend in Palermo or Cefalù. I thought about where I would suggest, and after deciding that the top of La Rocca in Cefalù would be too much of a hike and Palermo center may be a bit too chaotic, my thoughts went straight here, to one of my favorite spots in all of Sicily, the Cloister of Montreale Cathedral. And specifically to this fountain. This spot is one of the most serene and sacred places outside of any forest. It is a sort of a tree with a stream unto itself. And locals will tell you if you put your hand in the waters of the fountain and make a wish for love, it will come true. So, yes, this spot. When you visit Monreale, you must also visit the cloister. It’s otherworldly. And I implore you to stop and take a moment at this fountain. Wait for the other tourists to wander away so you have a moment here by yourself. Then take a deep breath and savor the sites and sounds of the place and time. And if you want, make a beautiful proposal to your loved one. If even for the second time. #experiencesicily #sicily #monreale #chiostro #cloister #palermo #sicilia #siciliabedda #italy #italia #sicilyvacation #sicilians_world #ig_sicily #igerssicilia #instasicilia #gf_italy #siculamenteDoc #sicily_tricolors #ig_visitsicily #Sicilia_PhotoGroup #smallgrouptours #traveltogether #authenticsicily #sicilytour #whatsicilyis #sicilytravel #viverelasicilia (at Chiostro Di Levante - Monastero Dei Benedettini) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cc0DwL8OBNt/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
Capital with Demons Punishing the Sins of Avarice and Blasphemy Made in southern France 1175-1200
Currently in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art (Purchased with Museum funds from the George Grey Barnard Collection, 1945). Image taken from the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s website.
Cloister with elements from the Abbey of Saint-Genis-des-Fontaines Roussillon, France 1270-80s, with medieval elements from southwestern France and modern additions Marble
“At the heart of every medieval monastery stood a cloister, an arcaded walkway surrounding a courtyard. The Museum’s cloister is modeled after a thirteenth-century example at the Abbey of Saint-Genis-des-Fontaines in the Roussillon region of southwestern France, and includes sculpture originally from the abbey, contemporary elements from the province, and early-twentieth-century reproduction carvings.
Medieval cloisters served both practical and spiritual purposes. Most were open air, often with a garden in the courtyard. A ninth-century architectural drawing known as the Plan of Saint Gall, which is considered a blueprint of the ideal monastic compound, features a large, centrally located cloister that would have been reserved for the monks. At Saint-Genis-des-Fontaines, the outer walkway held doors that opened into the dining hall, the chapter house (where the abbey was administered), and the church. In addition to functioning as a connecting space, the courtyard and its colonnade were used by the religious community for processions, services, and communal readings. The cloister also provided an area where individual monks could engage in private prayer and contemplation.
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A medieval cloister, an arcaded walkway surrounding an open courtyard, was usually a space at the heart of a monastery where a variety of highly regulated events in the lives of members of the religious order took place, including silent prayer, meditation, or reading aloud from holy books. The design for this cloister installed in the Museum is based on that at Saint-Genis-des-Fontaines in southwestern France, the source of some of the Museum’s cloister capitals. In the center of the cloister stands a rare Romanesque fountain known to have come from Saint-Michel-de-Cuxa, the largest monastery in the eastern Pyrenees. The massive basin of the fountain is decorated with a continuous design of arches on columns that echo the elements of the cloister itself. Fountains served a variety of practical purposes in monasteries, such as providing water for shaving or washing clothes. Transplanted to a museum, the fountain and its cloister setting afford modern-day visitors a space for quiet thought. Eda Diskant, from Philadelphia Museum of Art: Handbook of the Collections (1995), p.109.”
Currently in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Image and description taken from the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s website, which includes additional images of the cloister.
Cloister from Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert French Late 12th c. Limestone
‘Situated in a valley near Montpellier in southern France, the Benedictine abbey of Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert was founded in 804 by Guilhem (Guillaume) au Court-Nez, duke of Aquitaine and a member of Charlemagne’s court. By the twelfth century, the abbey had been named in honor of its founder and had become an important site on one of the pilgrimage roads that ran through France to the holy shrine of Santiago de Compostela in Spain. With the steady visits of travelers en route to the shrine and the gifts they brought with them, a period of prosperity came to the monastery. By 1206 a new, two-story cloister had been built at Saint-Guilhem, incorporating the columns and pilasters from the upper gallery seen here. Most of these columns are medieval versions of the classical Corinthian column, based on the spiny leaf of the acanthus. This floral ornamentation is treated in a variety of ways. Naturalistic acanthus, with clustered blossoms and precise detailing, is juxtaposed with decoration in low, flat relief, swirling vine forms, and even the conventionalized bark of palm trees. Among the most beautiful capitals are those embellished by drill holes, sometimes in an intricate honeycomb pattern. Like the adaptation of the acanthus-leaf decoration, this prolific use of the drill must have been inspired by the remains of Roman sculpture readily available in southern France at the time. The drilled dark areas contrast with the cream-colored limestone and give the foliage a crisp lacy look that is elegant and sophisticated.
Like other French monasteries, Saint-Guilhem suffered greatly in the religious wars following the Reformation and during the French Revolution, when it was sold to a stonemason. The damages were so severe that there is now no way of determining the original dimensions of the cloister or the number and sequence of its columns. Those collected here served in the nineteenth century as grape-arbor supports and ornaments in the garden of a justice of the peace in nearby Aniane. They were purchased by the American sculptor George Grey Barnard before the First World War and brought to this country. A portion of the original cloister remains at Saint-Guilhem.’
The cloister is in the collection of The Cloisters, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Description and image taken from the Met’s website. You can see more photos of the cloister here on their site.
Capitals from the Cloister from Saint-Michel-de-Cuxa Catalan circa 1130-40 Marble
‘The Benedictine monastery of Saint-Michel-de-Cuxa, located at the foot of Mount Canigou in the northeast Pyrenees, was founded in 878. In 1791, Cuxa’s monks departed in the wake of the French Revolution, and much of the monastery’s stonework was subsequently dispersed. The monastery’s cloister, built during the twelfth century, originally measured some 156 by 128 feet, or approximately twice its current size at The Cloisters, much of whose architecture is modern. Like the ensemble from Saint-Guilhem, elements were purchased by George Grey Barnard and brought to the United States; part of the cloister survives at the monastery which, once again, houses a community of monks.
The cloister was the heart of a monastery. By definition, it consists of a covered walkway surrounding a large open courtyard, with access to all other monastic buildings. Usually attached to the southern flank of the church, a cloister was at the same time passageway and processional walkway, a place for meditation and for reading aloud. At once serene and bustling, the cloister was also the site where the monks washed their clothes and themselves.
The warm beauty of the native pink marble used at Cuxa harmonizes this cloister’s many elements, such as the varied capital sculptures carved during different periods in its construction. Some of these are fashioned in the simplest of block forms, while others are intricately carved with scrolling leaves, pinecones, animals with two bodies and a common head (a special breed for the corners of capitals), lions devouring people or their own forelegs, or a mermaid holding her tail. While many of these motifs may derive from popular fables or depict the struggle between the forces of good and evil, the conveyance of meaning seems to have been less important for the Cuxa artists than the creation of powerful works capturing the energy and tension between the forms depicted.’
Description and image taken from the Met’s website. You can see more photos of the cloister here on their site.
