"rodney" wrote in message
news:49b1574a$0$565$a369bfa1@exi-reader...

On the left hand stamp of a series illustrating a tryptych
of the altar at Wettenhausen by Martin Schaffner, presumably a baptism,
the ladies are gathering around a grilled hole in the floor,
can anyone explain the meaning of this please?

http://cjoint.com/data/dir7xNchtp.htm

I am surprised this brilliant painter is not featured in Wiki.




Hi Rodney.

Up to the 1400s many cathedrals in England had anchorite holes. These used
to be "holes" generally some 2 by 3 meters cut into a perimeter wall "within
sight of the main altar" with a hinged grill through which monks/friars
would take care of the basic needs of the anchorite. In some instances
where the thickness of the perimeter walls did not permit for such
dimensions, anchorite holes were cut underground just outside the rood
screen. Visitors and regulars would ask the anchorite to pray for them.
Could the grill in this picture be one of those underground anchorite holes?
I'm not sure this is of any help but it may ring a bell with someone.
--
Tony Vella
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
http://www.amedialuz.ca/