Beguinage Furniture, Provenance: Ursuline Convent, Valenciennes

Rare and Interesting Small Beguinage Furniture Characteristic of Flanders: The beguines, who formed autonomous communities in buildings constructed around a tree-lined courtyard, led a life of pious but active penance in the workshops and infirmaries. If it suited them to be modest, they should not live poorly. The austere furniture of the beguinages therefore presents a quality, a sobriety and a rigor in the image of demanding forms of devotion. For a model to compare in Furniture of the Belgian Provinces and French Flanders page 47. Provenance Community of the Convent of the Ursulines Valenciennes. In oak and from the Renaissance period. Slightly missing a cover molding and small shelf. Good state of conservation. H 85 by W 90 cm. Depth 47 cm