ABSTRACT

In the Middle Ages, angels were a constant presence and participated with the faithful in praising God. Due to the manifold roles played by angels in Christian theology, it is not surprising that they were a popular subject for church decoration. At the abbey church of Sainte-Foy at Conques, the attention paid to and regard for angels was expressed to an exceptional degree and therefore provide an excellent case study through which to understand how monumental sculpture communicated monastic identity and exegesis. This article considers the formal attributes and spatial arrangement of the sculpted angels at Conques as they relate to early medieval monastic conceptions of angels’ function and role within the heavenly community, providing the monks with a celestial model to negotiate the boundaries between the active and contemplative life as articulated by Gregory the Great and the Venerable Bede.

摘要

在中世纪，天使经常出现并与信徒一起赞美上帝。由于天使在基督教神学中扮演着多重角色，因此它们成为教堂装饰的热门主题也就不足为奇了。在孔克的圣福瓦修道院教堂，对天使的关注和尊重表现得非常出色，因此提供了一个很好的案例研究，通过它可以了解纪念性雕塑如何传达修道院的身份和注释。本文考虑了孔克雕塑天使的形式属性和空间布置，因为它们与中世纪早期修道院对天使在天界中的功能和角色的概念有关，