History of the Melleray Abbey

 

A building located near the current main road, 
where the monastery and the common people met.
Photo: Anni Saisto

Richard Hall has said in a newspaper interview that he lived in Melleray Abbey for eight months. I have written about the interview in the blog post 1890s and the Abbey. In 1897, Hall held a private exhibition in Nantes, which featured several works painted in the abbey. I have written about them in the blog posts Exhibition in Nantes in 1897 and Criticism of the 1897 Nantes Exhibition. The exhibition criticism revealed that Viscount Durfort took Hall to Melleray Abbey, and that he worked there for three months in 1896.

I was able to visit the Melleray Abbey in the summer of 2026, and explore some of its premises on a guided tour. The monastery was founded in the 12th century, and has been expanded several times over the centuries. The illustration in this blog post shows the current building stock of the monastery. As the main source for the history of the monastery, I have used the article Notre-Dame de Melleray. It is published in the book Les Abbayes Bretonnes (Biennale des abbayes bretonnes ; Paris : le Sarment : Fayard, 1983). In addition, I have used the Wikipedia article Ordre cistercien as a source.  

 

The monastery gate, which dates back to the 12th century.
Photo: Anni Saisto 

The Abbey in the 19th Century

During the French Revolution, the Melleray Abbey declined, but during the 19th century it flourished again. In 1817, the abbey changed hands for 94,000 francs, and Abbot Dom Antoine arrived from Lulworth, England, with 57 monks. The abbey began to develop new agricultural techniques. The activities were so progressive that the government founded an agricultural school in the abbey in 1826 to educate rural youth. In 1830, the community consisted of 192 people. From the 1840s, the abbey expanded to Staouél in Algeria and Gethsemane in the United States.

The Third Republic of France was born in 1870. Before that, France was an empire led by Napoleon III. The Third Republic was based on parliamentarism. The republican government was critical of the Catholic Church. One of its goals was to separate the church from the state administration. The change took place in 1905. However, the Melleray monastery was allowed to continue its activities despite the social turbulence.

In 1892, the Cistercian Order split into two: three monasteries—Westmalle in Belgium, and Sept-Fons and Melleray in France—merged at the initiative of the central administration of the Catholic Church. They formed a religious order called the Cisterciens Réformés de Notre-Dame de la Trappe. This name explains the term Richard Hall used to refer to the Trappist monastery in Melleray.

In 1894, the General Chapter of the Cisterciens Réformés de Notre-Dame de la Trappe decided to publish a new graduale, or liturgical book. The abbot of Melleray Abbey was tasked with compiling “a basic and practical method of Gregorian chant for the use of the Reformed Cistercians of Notre-Dame de la Trappe.” The Gradual was published in 1896—the same year Hall was staying at the abbey.

 

Church and monastery building.
Photo: Anni Saisto 

 

 Works painted by Richard Hall at the Abbey

So far, the largest number of works painted by Hall at the Melleray Abbey has been found in the catalogue of the 1897 exhibition in Nantes. In addition, works have been exhibited at the Paris Salons in 1897 and 1898. As was the case with the time, the dimensions of the works or the years of completion are not indicated. The technique has been assumed to be oil painting, and the catalogues specifically mention pastel paintings.

Here I list the works that can be concluded from the name to have been made at the abbey. The spelling of the abbey's name has varied, and the name Meilleraye has also been used.

Moines trappistes; abbaye de Melleray (Loire-Inférieure)
Two composition "Le Christ se manifeste"
Frère Victor (Frère Convers)
Père Jérôme (Religieux Trappiste)
Le Botaniste (Père Trappiste)
Un Convaincu
Solitude (Meilleraye)
Frère Convers et ses canards (coucher de soleil)
Gamin jouant au bord de l'eau (étang de Meilleraye)
Religieux au travail (Frère Convers Trappiste)
La Tisserand (Frère Convers Trappiste)
La Bibliothécaire [Religieux Trappiste]
Moines Trappistes au lutrin [effet de lampe]
Moines Trappistes portant des cierges en procession [effet de lumière]
La Charité à la porte. - Abbaye de Meilleraye [Loire-Inférieure] 
Moines trappistes en méditation 
Effet de soir (Etang de Meilleraye)
Effet de matin (Etang de Meilleraye)
Coucher de soleil (Etang de Meilleraye)
Abbaye de Meilleraye (pochade)
Soleil d'automne (Etang de Meilleraye), pastelli
Etude pour les moines en procession 

 

View of the interior of the monastery.

Photo: Anni Saisto

 

Questions

This information raises several questions. Who was Viscount Durfort, the man who asked Hall to come to the Melleray Abbey? Why did he do that? Hall’s visit took place in the same year that the new gradual was published. Was this a coincidence or intentional? During the Third Republic, the Catholic Church found itself in a difficult position because it already had strong ties to the monarchy, and the republican government viewed it as a threat. Was Durfort seeking to support the monastery in his own way, and did Hall’s paintings serve this purpose?