Tea at Trianon: The Organic Development of the Shape of the Chasuble

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Tuesday, March 22, 2022

The Organic Development of the Shape of the Chasuble

From Liturgical Arts Journal:

Now, it must be said that these are not the only shapes that can be found in the history of the Latin rite. Dozens of different shapes can be found in the historical examples we have -- a reminder that unlike modern times, there weren't set universal patterns.

So the question that people naturally might wonder is, why? To gain an insight into the possible answer to that question we need to consider two potential angles: one historical, the other liturgical.

Historically speaking, in earlier centuries textiles were much more rare and precious commodities. Whereas today people are used to having the ability to order bolts of fabric at (relatively speaking) inexpensive prices, throughout most of history that was not the case. Textiles were used and re-used; they were costly and precious, most especially the more beautiful and noble fabrics such as silk. In this regard one had to use what one had. This may have, in part at least, driven design considerations. The maker might have only so much fabric to work with after all.

However, a second consideration is liturgical -- specifically, ceremonial. Practically speaking, ask any contemporary priest what it is like to wear a conical chasuble and they might say "it is heavy" or they might say "it is hot" but in addition to these things, they will also often say that they can be somewhat clunky and impractical, even ceremonially problematic when it comes to performing the liturgical rites. What they mean by this is simply that with so much gathered material, it can become very easy for a priest to do things like knock over items (i.e. the chalice) on the altar while doing things like turning the pages of the missal and so on. This is what in part led to a practice of flipping the arm of the chasuble up over the shoulder -- to get the material out of the way. It wasn't much of a leap at that point to the process of trimming the chasuble shape back in a more permanent way. Indeed, what one will especially note in the evolution of the chasuble design is the gradual trimming back of the excess fabric at the arms, thereby allowing more freedom of movement. (Arguably, one can see a very similar approach in the shape of the Byzantine phelonion -- the effective equivalent of the chasuble). (Read more.)