Capital, limestone, with monks reading, Northern France (Reims), ca. 1150-1155

Limestone capital . Within thick leafy scrolls, on one side a monk seated reading at a desk, on the opposite side a seated monk reads a book on his knees; on the other sides, a lion rearing and looking upwards, entangled in the scrolls. The condition is reasonably good. The capital appears to have received a lime-wash prior to acquisition.

Given by Dr W.L. Hildburgh FSA

Given to the museum by Dr W.L. Hildburgh in 1950

The style and subject matter of this capital are very close to one side of a large fragment found in the ruins of a house in Reims after the first world war, now in the Musée saint-Remi at Reims. The fragment has been associated with the tomb of Abbot Odo (D.1151)which was destroyed during the French Revolution, on the strength of the inscription "Odo" next to the reading monk. Although there is not as yet sufficient evidence to be sure of the fragment's original function, the style of both the fragment and this capital point to a date around the middle of the twelfth century.

In the Middle ages the lion was a common symbolic beast, as a symbol of the resurrection because, according to the bestiaries, the cubs when born lay dead for three days until their father brought them to life by breathing in their faces. The lion was the symbol of saints Jerome, Aidan, Euphemia, and Thecla and the animals are linked to eastern monasticism having helped to dig the graves of the desert hermits Antony the Great, Paul the hermit, Onuphrius and Mary of Egypt.

Reading played a central part in medieval monastic life. Lectio Divinia - sacred reading - i.e. the reading of the scriptures and the Church Fathers Origen, Jerome, Augustine and Gregory the Great, was prescribed by the rule of St Benedict as one of the most important occupations of the monastic day. Reading could be conducted as private study as depicted on this capital or publicly with readings given in the chapter house, refectory or monastic church. Customaries reveal which books were issued to monks and how little the titles on the reading list changed between the mid eleventh and mid twelfth centuries. The lists include not only the scriptures and Church Fathers, but Smaragdus on The Rule, the Lives of the Saints, Bede, Alcuin and Rhamanus Marus and histories by Josephus and Eusebius which formed a programme of monastic study.

The style and subject matter of this capital is very similar to to one side of a large fragment found in the ruins of a house in Reims after the First World War.

The leafy scrolls with lions and the two monks studying books perhaps contrast savagery and learning. The monastic rule of St Benedict prescribed the time to be set aside for reading at different seasons of the year. At the beginning of Lent, each monk was issued with a book to be read through.
The style and subject matter are very close to one side of a large fragment found in the ruins of a house in Reims after First World War, now in the Musée Saint-Remi at Reims.

A.43-1950