Our next bit of heraldry from Katie's trip to Europe is a Late Baroque epitaph and memorial plaque dedicated to Abbot Maurus Schinnagl (Latinized as Mauritius), who served as the abbot of Mondsee Abbey from 1764 until his death in 1773.
The center of the monument features a relief of an open book and a chalice, symbolizing his theological scholarship and priestly duties. Below that, the Latin inscription begins with a standard funerary invocation, “VIATOR Circumspice” (Passenger/wayfarer, Look about you), followed by his religious name, Mauritius. At the very top sits a carved head wearing a mitre (the ceremonial headdress of an abbot), signifying his high ecclesiastical office, atop two coats of arms.
The arms on the left are, once again, those of Mondsee, Austria, which we have seen in the last two posts preceding this one.
The arms on the right are those of Abbot Schinnagl. These arms consist of a human figure in chief, and three difficult-to-make-out charges in base, although the dexter-most one is very reminiscent of a lion's face. I have, alas, been unable to find any record of this coat of arms which would allow us to determine more specifically the colors and charges on the shield.
The base features a stark memento mori element—a sculpted human skull serving as a traditional reminder of mortality and the fleeting nature of earthly life.
Abbot Maurus was a significant intellectual figure for the monastery during the 18th century, actively managing its extensive library and historical archives right up until the final decades before the abbey was permanently dissolved.
No comments:
Post a Comment