vincentian history

17th Century “Photographs”

bcicirel Vincentian History , , , , ,

It isn’t possible to look at photographs of 17th century France, but the closest we can come are the engravings of Abraham Bosse (1604-76). He was a master engraver of all sorts of subjects, including portraiture. For us, the most interesting will probably be his scenes of ordinary life, with particular emphasis on the depictions of the poor. He showed artisans at work, too, [see the engraving on the bakery below] and his scenes of schoolrooms—one for boys, another for girls—are nearly photographic.
His scenes of the Corporal Works of Mercy include the often-reproduced view of wealthy pious persons visiting a prison. The prisoner with a wide metal collar around his neck attached by a chain to the wall is astonishing. So is the scene of a wife beating her husband with a ring of heavy keys. At one side of the same engraving a young girl also is striking a boy, certainly in imitation of the family scene being enacted, and at the other side, a hen is pecking fiercely on a rooster. Bosse must have had a sense of humor.
He engraved another series of single individuals, showing off the details of their clothing. This is certainly as good as this gets.


If you ever wondered what kind of world Monsieur Vincent lived in, one access point is offered by these marvelous engravings. Bosse left more than 1,600 of them.

The Vincentian collection at DePaul recently purchased the book, whose cover is shown here. It is the catalogue of an exhibition dating from 2004.

It would be interesting to know more about his works.

There were, of course, other engravers and painters in his period, but many of them date from the time of Louis XIV. In this case, they represent the styles in vogue at least at the beginning of his reign. With Bosse, we are mainly shown the styles of Louis XIII and his wife, Anne of Austria, who became regent for Louis XIV until his formal accession to the throne in 1661.

Vincent’s knife

bcicirel Vincentian History , , ,

In Vincent’s time, people normally had their own eating utensils. To pick up and eat their food, many used their fingers, which they would clean with a cloth and/or bread. As to the utensils, normally a knife and spoon—forks were a new import from Italy, often used only in upper-class settings—these were also cleaned at the table by the eater and wrapped up in a cloth to await their next use. This was a custom preserved in some religious communities, notably the Daughters of Charity in certain parts of the world.
The knife pictured above is in the Vincentian Museum in the mother house in Paris. It consists of a wooden sheath, on the left, with the metal knife, on the right. The sheath has metal pieces fitted into it at each end to hold the wood in place.
The mystery about this item is the carving on the sheath, which covers at least two sides. I have not been able to locate anyone who knows anything about this. What do the individual symbols mean, if anything? Who carved them and why? Where did the sheath come from? Why did Vincent de Paul have this item? What is its age? How different was it from those that others used? Was it a gift to him from someone, let’s say a sailor, coming back from a lengthy ocean voyage, maybe from Madagascar? Are the figures alphabetic or just symbolic? Some symbols are repeated, and there may be divisions between groups of symbols (if I am interpreting the vertical dots correctly); does this have any relevance?
Let’s put out this item for examination. There has to be someone who could start researchers in the right direction. Is it you?

I sometimes wonder whether the author Dan Brown could concoct a mystery story featuring this knife, leading scientists and detectives on a wild chase across continents.

New St. Vincent painting

bcicirel Vincentian History

Actually, this is an old St. Vincent painting, from the 18th century. The original is in the chapel of the Hospital of St. Eutrope (now Hôpital Thermal) in Dax, the hospital where the newly beatified Sr. Marguerite Rutan, D.C., was Sister Servant at the time of the Revolution. The painting hangs above the main altar.
The image is new for the St. Vincent Image Archive, located under the “Paintings” folder, then classified under France. The artist is unknown, at least for now. The painting is unusual in that it shows St. Vincent in a hospital setting. He blesses from heaven the patients, the Sisters, and perhaps the donor, kneeling in the lower center of the painting, wearing a red cloak. Perhaps someone could explain why he is apparently kneeling on cut branches.
The Sisters are dressed in grey or black, with the older form of the cornette used before the French Revolution. St. Vincent is shown in an ample surplice with an elaborate gold stole.
It was in this hospital that Blessed Marguerite received and treated soldiers during the Revolution, some of whom were guilty of supporting the monarchy. On the principle of “the friend of my enemy is my enemy,” she was condemned for anti-revolutionary activities and guillotined in the main square of Dax, on 9 April 1794.
I received this image from Fr. Mauricio Fernandez Monsalve, a Colombian Vincentian working at the birthplace of St. Vincent, the Berceau, near Dax.

VHRN Book of the Week: Les Gondy de Retz

bcicirel Vincentian History ,

Monique Bras-Paquin, Emile Boutin, Les Gondy de Retz, (Nantes: Editions Siloe, 2002), pp. 270. ISBN: 2-84231-218-X.

 

“La France du XVI e siècle fut profondément marquée par l’influence de ces Italiens qui, venus de Florence, de Milan, de Turin ou d’ailleurs, jouèrent un role préponderant dans l’évolution politique, économique, sociale et culturelle du royaume. Lorsque, quittant Florence au début au siècle, Antonio Gondi arrive à Lyon, qui pouvait penser que grâce à l’amitié qui devait rapprocher sa femme et une reine de France, un prestigieux destin attendait sa descendance? En un peu plus d’un siècle, sur fond d’histoire de France allant de Catherine de Médicis à Louis XIV, les homes et les femmes de cette famille écrivent avec passion et talent leur propre histoire. Ces Gondy de Retz, fortes personnalités, complexes et contrastées, souvent émouvantes, irritantes parfois mais ne laissant jamais indifférent, c’est à leur découverte que nous convie cet ouvrage.”

VHRN Book of the Week: A Social and Cultural History of Early Modern France

bcicirel Vincentian History ,

William Beik, A Social and Cultural History of Early Modern France, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009), 401pp. ISBN: 978-0-521-88309-2.

From the publisher: “A magisterial new history of French society between the end of the Middle Ages and the Revolution by one of the world’s leading authorities on early modern France.  Using colorful examples and incorporating the latest scholarship, William Beik conveys the distinctiveness of early modern society and idetnfies the cultural practices that defined the lives of people at all levels of society.  Painting a vivid picture of the realities of everyday life, he reveals how society functioned and how the different classes interacted.  In addition to chapters on nobles, peasants, city people, and the court, the book sheds new light on the Catholic church, the army, popular protest, the culture of violence, gendered relations, and sociability.  This is a major new work that restores the ancien regime as a key epoch in its own right and not simply as the prelude to the coming Revolution.”

William Beik is Emeritus Professor of History at Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia.  His previous publications include: Urban Protest in Seventeenth-Century France: The Culture of Retribution (1997) and Louis XIV and Absolutism: A Study with Documents, 2000.