"There are cases in which the object loses its physical function to such an extent and acquires such communicative value that it becomes a sign first and foremost and remains an object only secondarily. Fashion is one of these cases" (Eco, 1972). Even if it is taken from the field of present-day social psychology of dress, this quote also fits particularly well for the ecclesiastical dress codes of the Middle Ages. Evidence of this can be found in medieval normative and liturgical treatises that repeatedly stress the importance and symbolism of bishops' garments in relation to the authority of their offices. Yet, to what extent can the opposition between sign and object be valid for medieval liturgical vestments? Are the non-verbal language conveyed by them and their materiality not, rather, two sides of the same coin? In other words, what happens if we consider their material reality – broadly understood – not as a secondary instance but as a constitutive element in their meaning-making process?
In this paper, I will address these questions through an unconventional lens; that is, by focusing on a specific type of artefacts, a group of multimaterial mitres of French provenance made between the 13th and 15th centuries, and lavishly decorated. More than other liturgical garments, the mitre was endowed with multiple spiritual values. In fact, since it was worn on the head, it was certainly associated with authority, but also with memory, perception, and intellectual understanding, hence with the ability to experience and engage with reality and society (Piccolo Paci, 2008). Moreover, its placement on the body at the moment of the bishop’s consecration was accompanied by prayers and a highly symbolic ritual intended to protect the wearer's senses from evil and sin. Accordingly, in its manufacture every element contributed to convey these multifaceted meanings, from the material chosen (especially linen, silk, and wool, with the unique - and relevant, although thus far neglected - exception of parchment in the case of the Jacques de Vitry's mitre); to the inclusion of gems, pearls, little bells, and even relics; to the technique adopted (noteworthy is the “painted” mitre of the Parisian Sainte Chapelle); to its iconography, meant to be coordinated to the movements of the celebrant at the altar.
My approach involves recognising how the physical and material dimension of these headgears had the power to embody one's faith and how them, touching and weighing on the head, and being considered an embellishment and extension of the body, could affect the outer and inner senses, thus eliciting affective and spiritual responses in its intended perceivers (celebrants/faithful). I will also consider the aspect of gesture, such as their effects on posture, gait, and restriction of body movement. Finally, I will analyse how these mitres – intended as religious objects tout court – engaged with other objects in the spatial and immersive environment of the liturgy, as well as with the human actors active within the same system.
Mitres; Dress-related perceptions; Liturgical objects and spaces; Ritual and performance.
H. Adam and A.D. Galinsky, Enclothed cognition, «Journal of Experimental Social Psychology» (2012), doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2012.02.008.
M. Beaulieu and J. Baylé, La mitre épiscopale en France des origines à la fin du XVe siècle, «Bulletin archéologique du Comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques. Fasc. A, Antiquités nationales», 1973 (1976), 41-97.
H. Blöcher, Die Mitren des hohen Mittelalters, Riggisberg, 2012.
U. Eco, L'abito parla il monaco, in Psicologia del vestire, Milan 1972, 7-25.
M.C. Miller, Clothing the clergy. Virtue and Power in Medieval Europe, c. 800-1200, Ithaca-London 2014.
Ornamenta Sacra. Late Medieval and Early Modern Liturgical Objects in a European Context, ed. R. Dekoninck, M.-C. Claes and B. Baert, Leuven-Paris-Bristol, CT 2022.
E. Palazzo, L'évêque et son image: l'illustration du pontifical au Moyen Âge, Turhout 1999.
S. Piccolo Paci, Storia delle vesti liturgiche, Milan 2008.
J. Vandeburie, Dress to Impress: Jacques de Vitry's Clothing and Episcopal Self-Fashioning, in Authority and Power in the Medieval Church, c. 1000-c. 1500, ed. T.W. Smith, Turnhout 2020, 233-252.
C. Vogt, Episcopal Self-Fashioning: The Thomas Becket Mitres, in Iconography of Liturgical Textiles in the Middle Ages, ed. E. Wetter, Riggisberg 2010, 117-128.
L. Watteeuw, The Illuminated Parchment Mitre of Bishop Jacques de Vitry (c. 1165-1240), in Pulchritudo tam antiqua tam nova, ed. J.-M. Auwers and D. Vanysacker, Turnhout 2020, 49-59.
Dr Valentina Baradel is an art historian specialised in Medieval Art History. She is currently working as a Post-Doctoral Researcher within the ERC-Starting Grant 2020 project "SenSArt", carried out at the Department of Cultural Heritage of the University of Padua, with a focus on territories corresponding to present France. Her main research interests are on late medieval visual and material culture, liturgy and performance, private devotion, gender-related issues, and the beholder's sensory engagement with artworks.
In this paper I will focus on two mitres made in the 14th century and used in the ceremonies of the Sainte Chapelle. My approach involves recognising how the material dimension of these headgears had the power to embody one''s faith and how them, being considered an extension of the body, could affect the outer and inner senses, thus eliciting affective and spiritual responses in their intended perceivers. I will also analyse how these mitres engaged with other objects in the spatial and immersive environment of the liturgy, as well as with the human actors active within the same system.