Installation as Inspiration: The Passion Cycle from La Daurade

Abstract

The reorganization of the Musée des Augustins in Toulouse provides the opportunity for a re-examination of the Passion capitals that were carved for the Benedictine cloister of La Daurade in the first third of the 12th century. Experience of the carvings as they look in their new installation generates reflection on how they might originally have appeared in the cloister; the essential role that miniature architecture plays in providing a realistic "enclosure" for the events of Christ's Passion stimulates speculation about a situation for these disjecta membra that respects this often neglected or underestimated feature of the capitals. The role of the monks as the intended audience for the carvings invites consideration of Benedictine mentalité at the time; attitudes within the monastic community are explored as probable analogues, rather than as sources, for the imagery. From these perspectives, unusual aspects of the iconography, such as the absence of a Crucifixion and the presence of an unprecedented Resurrection, can be understood without reference to the issues of artistic precedent and prototype. Furthermore, the suggestion that the original installation of the La Daurade pieces followed the alternating arrangement of foliate and narrative carvings that exists in the Moissac cloister comes into question. It is argued that the Passion cycle from La Daurade, with its selective emphasis and dramatic coherence originally formed a continuous sequence; seemingly inconsistent features of organization that distinguish this representation enhanced its utility as a model for monastic imitation.