Porta Coeli: Mediation, Transformation and Preservation of the Gothic Helvoirt Screen ca. 1500

Abstract

The medieval Helvoirt choir screen is a remarkable object. Dated around 1500, this carved oak screen is a rare example of a late Gothic screen in the Netherlands. Although a common feature of medieval church interiors, these screens have largely disappeared throughout Europe. During the Reformation, many were removed or destroyed in Protestant areas, while the Counter-Reformation and later changes in both liturgy and architectural taste led to an even greater disappearance of these partitions in Catholic areas. After surviving in situ for over three centuries, the Helvoirt screen is now part of the collection of Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum. The aim of this study is to understand the trajectory of this religious artefact from the religious sphere to that of the museum. How is the survival of the screen to be understood in the light of the iconoclasm to which these objects were so often subjected? And what does it reveal about the history of religion and the philosophical understanding of religious experience in relation to sacred objects? In order to gain a deeper understanding of the phenomenon, two sub-aspects will be examined. On a functional level, what was expected of choir screens in Gothic churches in the context of late medieval society? What was the purpose of these screens and in what spatial logic should they be understood? Which, on a phenomenological level, leads to the question: How did the Helvoirt choir screen shape embodied and sensory experiences of the sacred, and how has its historical trajectory changed those capacities?