In the Secret of the Cell: Carthusian Devotional Imagery and Meditative Practices in the Beginning of the 16th Century

The Carthusians are well known for their austere way of life and their (apparently) negative appraisal of images. Nonetheless, the presence of images and artworks in their monasteries is attested by much evidence. Spending most of their time in their cells, Carthusian monks extol solitude and simplicity as the only way to attain a perfect contemplative state. Therefore, the presence of artworks in the charterhouses is generally justified by their aristocratic patronage, although this does not fully explain the existence of devotional paintings and illustrated books owned by Carthusians still preserved today. This paper will explore early sixteenth-century Carthusian imagery (mostly devotional paintings from the Low Countries) that was used by monks for their meditative practices in the secret of their cell. Paintings such as the Diptych of the Virgin and Child with St Anne by the Master of the Diptych of Brunswick (Brunswick, Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum) or the Virgin and Child Enthroned by Jan Provost (Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum) will notably be explored in conjunction with contemporary spiritual literature available in Netherlandish charterhouses in order to show that such pictures—which were not available to anyone except the monks who held and used them in their cells—visualize union with Christ in a lasting way and therefore exemplify the complex relationship between spirituality and imagery in late medieval and early modern Carthusian context