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1. 1 2024-11-09T13:38:01-08:00 Anne Heath 09732d720ba4faf961eef7443cd7fb56ebae6841 Now, for showing that this place has been constructed by design to place the Holy Tear there, in the depth of this niche, above the doors of the above-mentioned window, is represented in relief the history of the resurrection of Lazare, Anne Heath 3 plain 2024-11-13T15:24:07-08:00 Anne Heath 09732d720ba4faf961eef7443cd7fb56ebae6841
2. 1 2024-11-09T13:41:09-08:00 Anne Heath 09732d720ba4faf961eef7443cd7fb56ebae6841 On the face of the triangle, or crowning, is rendered en bosse three levels of images and histories formed in times passed, but of an admirable artistry. The first represents the return of Geoffrey Martel from Constantinople to France, the second is the Anne Heath 2 plain 2024-11-13T15:11:25-08:00 Anne Heath 09732d720ba4faf961eef7443cd7fb56ebae6841
3. 1 2024-11-09T13:39:07-08:00 Anne Heath 09732d720ba4faf961eef7443cd7fb56ebae6841 Above the niche at the two corners of the triangle which makes the crowning, there are two angels, one of which takes the figure of the cross of Our Lord in two hands; the other holds in the right hand the crown of thorns, and in the left, the column, Anne Heath 2 plain 2024-11-13T15:27:59-08:00 Anne Heath 09732d720ba4faf961eef7443cd7fb56ebae6841
4. 1 2024-11-09T13:36:46-08:00 Anne Heath 09732d720ba4faf961eef7443cd7fb56ebae6841 This niche is 8 feet high, raised up by a crowning also 8 feet, which is in a triangular form. Anne Heath 2 plain 2024-11-13T14:55:50-08:00 Anne Heath 09732d720ba4faf961eef7443cd7fb56ebae6841
5. 1 2024-11-09T13:36:16-08:00 Anne Heath 09732d720ba4faf961eef7443cd7fb56ebae6841 In this depth, there is a square window or armoire, a little higher than wide, in which is conserved the Holy Tear in its vases of gold that we will discuss later. Anne Heath 2 plain 2024-11-13T15:31:30-08:00 Anne Heath 09732d720ba4faf961eef7443cd7fb56ebae6841
6. 1 2024-11-09T13:35:51-08:00 Anne Heath 09732d720ba4faf961eef7443cd7fb56ebae6841 This sanctuary is a niche close to the high altar of the church, on the side of the Evangelist, rather sunken and deep. Anne Heath 2 plain 2024-11-13T14:57:09-08:00 Anne Heath 09732d720ba4faf961eef7443cd7fb56ebae6841
7. 1 2024-11-09T13:37:25-08:00 Anne Heath 09732d720ba4faf961eef7443cd7fb56ebae6841 The niche is carried on two columns, enriched by their capitals, around which, as also the columns, many figures and images of kings, princes and lords, are seen in relief. Anne Heath 2 plain 2024-11-13T15:33:07-08:00 Anne Heath 09732d720ba4faf961eef7443cd7fb56ebae6841
8. 1 2024-11-09T13:39:55-08:00 Anne Heath 09732d720ba4faf961eef7443cd7fb56ebae6841 ...on the point up high is the image of a cherub behind which one sees a beautiful pyramid, which grandly decorated the entire work. Anne Heath 2 plain 2024-11-13T14:59:55-08:00 Anne Heath 09732d720ba4faf961eef7443cd7fb56ebae6841
9. 1 2024-11-09T13:38:20-08:00 Anne Heath 09732d720ba4faf961eef7443cd7fb56ebae6841 Below, the arc of the niche represents the banquet of the Pharisees who invited Our Lord to dinner, when the Magdalene is seen throwing herself at his feet, as it is written in St. Luke, chapter 7. Anne Heath 1 plain 2024-11-09T13:38:21-08:00 Anne Heath 09732d720ba4faf961eef7443cd7fb56ebae6841

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• 1 2022-12-27T06:09:10-08:00 Chapter 4: The Shrine and Reliquary-Armoire of the Holy Tear 16 plain 2024-11-13T07:04:09-08:00

  This chapter examines the building and placement of a reliquary shrine that was installed in the abbey’s choir, near the high altar of the Trinity.  Within the stone shrine was a wooden reliquary armoire that protected the abbey’s relics, the most important of which was the Holy Tear. The shrine was erected in the first half of the thirteenth century, and was permanently dismantled in 1803. Two early modern views of the shrine offer evidence of the shrine’s appearance. Early Modern texts describing the shrine aid in reconstructing the shrine’s appearance and the iconography of its sculpture program. Both must be supplemented with comparative analysis of existing shrines and sculptural programs. Here we present the visual and textual evidence in which our visualizations are based.

• 1 2024-11-13T03:30:55-08:00 Reconstructing the Shrine of the Holy Tear 10 plain 2024-11-14T03:59:44-08:00

  The two visual sources from Boudan and Mabillon depict the center portion of the shrine and focus on the sculptural imagery on the arch and architrave. However, a significant part of the shrine is missing from both representations. This may have been due to the artists’ interest only in the sculptural program relevant to the legend of the Holy Tear, or that the missing portion of the shrine could have been dismantled by the seventeenth century. The Benedictine monk Germain Millet, who was a resident at La Trinité as a member of the Congregation of St. Maur, offers a likely first-hand account of the shrine when it was installed in the choir.

  We offer this potential reconstruction of the shrine based on Millet’s text and the visual sources by Boudan and Mabillon We also considered the marble tomb of Dagobert, a contemporaneous structure installed in the choir of Saint-Denis in Paris and the façade of Chartres Cathedral, as comparative monuments.  Click on the images below to see the text from Millet, Histoire de la Sainte Larme, pp. 34-35.
  
  The monks installed the shrine in the choir of La Trinité, with the shrine’s back lodged in the choir screen, so that the sculptural program faced inwards towards the  altar.