The German Mission: Joos
de MomperA-s Landscapes of Devotion
Catherine Levesque,
College of William and Mary
This paper situates
Joos de MomperA-' paintings of mountainous landscapes
within the context of a northern landscape type promoted
by the prelates and rulers associated with the Congregatio
Germanica. From this viewpoint in which Trent
could be considered (to quote one Roman cardinal)
as the 'gateway to Germany,' the heroic landscape
type most closely associated with Northern (especially
Netherlandish) artists provided an alternative to
a Reformed cartography.A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A
The starkly differentiated
perspectives articulated by the Swiss reformer Pierre
Viret in the Mappamonde Nouvelle Papistique, 1566,
and the landscape views presented in the map gallery
created for Pope Gregory XIII provide background for
subsequent developments. Indeed Viret's 'Mountains
of Images,' 'Mountains of Idols,' and 'Mountains of
Relics' (in Province IIII: service of the saints)
are explicitly associated with the pilgrimages, holy
places, and hermitages that become significant motifs
in later landscapes such as those by De Momper.A These
later works A? I believe A? go beyond the generalized
suggestion of a Catholic cultural landscape to suggest
the 'German Mission.' The mountainous settings, in
this context, specifically evoke the contested regions
of Switzerland and Savoy. Notably, a number of the
most prominent patrons of Netherlandish landscape
were associated with the German Mission. The most
influential A? Carlo and Federico Borromeo A? were cardinal-protectors
of the Spanish Netherlands as well as of the Missions
in Switzerland and Savoy. Carlo Borromeo's trip to
Switzerland in the 1570A-s initiated the subsequent
Capuchin missions of the next decades. The emphasis
on the display of the Eucharist and the Implements
of the Passion so prominent in De Momper's grotto
paintings were the devotions most closely associated
the Capuchins. Indeed, the grotto landscapes that
appear in a number of paintings are strikingly similar
to area around Arlesheim (near Basel) and Solothurn,
the sites of two important Capuchin Missions.
Not only clerics but
also secular rulers associated with the Congregatio
Germanica were supporters of the Capuchins and
their devotions; a number of these individuals also
showed a marked predilection for mountainous and wilderness
scenery. For example, both Duke Wilhelm V of Bavaria
and the Archduke Maximilian II of the Tyrol built
hermitages. According to Philipp Hainhofer, one could
even, in Duke Wilhelm's grotto, see painted and printed
representaA-tions of the Fathers and hermits. The Capuchins
(and the Congregatio Germanica) also played
an important role in the Spanish Netherlands. In 1585
Alexander Farnese invited the Capuchins to the Spanish
Netherlands. The links between politics and devotion
continue to be important in subsequent decades. In
1620 the Archduke Albert was named Prefect of the
Confraternity of the Cross an order founded by Cardinal
Albergati, at the urging of a Capuchin, Father Hyacinthe
of Casal, to aid recent converts and their families.
Other prominent members included the Hohenzollern,
the Dukes of Lorraine and Bavaria, and the electors
of Cologne, Mainz, and Treves. Once again, the devotions
centered on the Forty Hours Devotion and the Passion.
Though the political
implications of devotional landscapes provides a significant
institutional context, devotional practices, sermons,
and poetry which draw on imagery of mountains and
grottos provides a richer framework for understanding
its significance within that context. The taste for
mountainous and forested landscape paintings in the
circle of the Archdukes can certainly be linked to
their wider support for the eremitical life most dramatically
exemplified by their help in founding the Saintes
Deserts of the Carmelites (Marlagne 1619).A Both
Albert and Isabella had paintings of hermits in their
private rooms and oratories. Isabella, after Albert's
death, even built a hermitage by the Capuchin convent
at Tervueren. Such devotions can also be documented
in the small shrines and sanctuaries associated primarily
with Capucian and Carmelite establishments (Sanderus's Flandria Illustrata and Corographiae sacre Brabantiae). These monuments and related landscape paintings and
prints take on a deeper significance when viewed in
light of grotto and mountain imagery in devotions
(such as the Forty Hours) and devotional poetry as
well as in the contemporary accounts of Capuchin missions
and traditions associated with the Capuchin and Carmelite
orders. It is at the least intriguing that such materials
with their emphasis on evocative stimuli to a system
of mental prayer aimed at leading the individual to
a consciousness of the divine consistently refer to
remote mountaintops and grottoes. Such sources suggest
the devotional role of landscapes such as De Momper's
and indicate how these epic landscapes came to be
associated with fantasy and the sublime.
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