Searching for a memorial painting mentioned in an inventory of furnishings of the Diepenveen convent

A student has found an entry mentioning a memorial painting with devotional portraits in an inventory of furnishings of the convent of the canonesses regular at Diepenveen (Overijssel). It says ‘Scilderie tot memorie van onse mater and haere ouders ende haere broeder heer Gisbert mit hun heylighen agter hun’ (Painting in commemoration of our mother superior and her parents and her brother, Sir Gijsbert, with their patron saints behind them). This memorial painting is not known to us at present, but it may be traceable using the MeMO database. Unfortunately the central image is not mentioned, but the entry still offers a number of clues. The memorial piece is

• a painting, containing
• a canoness regular
• her parents
• her brother, who is apparently a priest (considering the use of the title ‘Sir’), and
• patrons saints, who are standing behind them.

Using Search database the student searches for a description of this memorial painting in the MeMO database. She selects the Institutions database. In the field Name in the search form she enters the name and the institution: Diepenveen. The institution is in the database, but the object is not found. This can mean either of two things:

• The object has been lost
• The object still exists, but it is not known from which institution it originated

For checking this second possibility the student again uses the search form for memorial objects in the Search database. She can select the following fields:

• 1. Original institution: Original institution known? Select ‘No’
• 2. Portrait: Portraits present? Select ‘Yes’
• 3. In Portrait: Type of clothing she can best select two possibilities using the +-button
  • ‘Member of a convent’ and
  • ‘Clothes of an ecclesiastical office holder’
• 4. She also selects
  • Saint: Saints depicted? Select ‘Yes’

The Search Database function, with the criteria selected.

This search results in 40 objects that meet the criteria. The student can now check every record on the characteristics of the painting that is described in the inventory of the Diepenveen convent. See the screenshot below.

The following Results page

The student has also found another option by searching via original institution and commemorated party:

• 1. Original institution: Original institution known? Select ‘No’
• 2. Commemorated party: Person. Select: Canonesses Regular

The Search Database function, with the criteria selected.

This search results in 10 objects that meet the criteria. See the screenshot below.

The following Results page

Source critical research into the value of miscellanies for memoria-research

A researcher wants to set up a research project in which he focuses mainly on the problems and possibilities of manuscripts containing a combination of various types of memorial sources. In Search database he selects the Text carrier database, and uses the following fields:

• 1. Category: Classification: Miscellany
• 2. Original institutions: Type of institution: Monastery

The Search Database function, with the criteria selected

This search results in 58 text carriers that meet the criteria. See the screenshot below.

The following Results page