Seeing Past and Present in the Glazed Cloister of Park Abbey (1635-1644)

Abstract

The architecture of a monastic cloister offers a particular spatial arrangement for the display of images, whether in sculpture, painting, or stained glass. The closter space and its use allowed specific visual experiences for those who moved through it. Studies of cloisters from the 11^th to the 17^th centuries have noted a varied use of images, from narrative sequences to mnemonic aids.

This talk will offer a reconstruction of the cloister glazing program made for the Premonstratensian abbey of Park in Leuven, Belgium, between 1635 and 1644, which was dispersed in the 19^th century to several public and private collections. Two large collections have recently been returned to the abbey and are under study prior to their reinstallation. The reconstruction of their arrangement highlights some strategic choices of subject matter from the life of the order’s founder, Saint Norbert of Xanten. The compositions drew on recently published engravings, which in turn were based on a new edition of the saint’s vita redacted from 12^th-century manuscripts. Additional scenes were invented for the glazing cycle, some with references to recent events, collapsing historical time within the narrative. Their placement within the architecture was clearly strategic.