This site requires Javascript to be turned on. Please enable Javascript and reload the page.

The Abbey of La Trinité in Vendôme, France and the Cult of the Holy Tear: An Exploration of a Multi-Sensory Devotional Experience Main Menu Welcome Page Start Guide

Shrine Reconstruction

19096

This page has annotations:

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
Contents of this annotation:
1. Shrine Reconstruction
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
Contents of this annotation:
1. Shrine Reconstruction
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
Contents of this annotation:
1. Shrine Reconstruction
This niche is 8 feet high, raised up by a crowning also 8 feet, which is in a triangular form. Anne Heath
Contents of this annotation:
1. Shrine Reconstruction
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
Contents of this annotation:
1. Shrine Reconstruction
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
Contents of this annotation:
1. Shrine Reconstruction
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
Contents of this annotation:
1. Shrine Reconstruction
...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
Contents of this annotation:
1. Shrine Reconstruction
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
Contents of this annotation:
1. Shrine Reconstruction

This page is referenced by:

Chapter 4: The Shrine and Reliquary-Armoire of the Holy Tear
Chapter four focuses on the Holy Tear shrine. I argue that the shrine functioned as Lazarus’s tomb on the feast day of Lazarus. I interpret the dramatic high point of the liturgy as a reenactment of Jesus’s forgiveness of Lazarus’s—and humanity’s—sinfulness. The shrine is no longer extant, but archival and published sources allow scholars to reconstruct the shrine and its installation in the abbey church. I compare the shrine to other major stone monuments, including a stone shrine for Lazarus located at the cathedral of Saint-Lazare in Autun. I propose a reading of the Holy Tear shrine that transported the monks to the Lazarus story and Christ’s shredding of a tear as Lazarus was raised from the dead. Such an interpretation is based on the collection chants for Lazarus’s feast day found in one of the abbey’s sixteenth-century musical manuscripts. By analyzing the text and music of the office, I demonstrate that the monks adapted the pre-existing office of Lazarus that was also performed at other locations in France associated with Lazarus to form a performance context for the Holy Tear.
Reconstructing the Shrine of the Holy Tear
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.