Monastery of the Visitation
Location, Object
City of Solothurn, Canton of Solothurn. Monastery of the Visitation (Frauenkloster der Visitation); built 1676–1693. Common room (Communauté) of the nuns with fully painted ceiling including emblems and depictions of saints; devotional texts in grisaille on walls. Restored 1969/1970. Located in enclosed tract, not open to public.
Site plan and diagram.
Click to enlarge.
Emblems (20)
Context
21 rows of panelled ceiling separated by heavy beams, each row showing an emblem (nos. 1–20) and a saint or some other non-emblematic subject (a–w), all in richly ornamented oval frames. All mottoes and inscriptions are in French and written on the beams.
Authorship, Date
Painted by local artist Wolfgang Aeby (1638–1694) in 1679. Designed by Victor Ruosinger and donated by Johann Leonz Gugger, canons of the collegiate chapter of St Ursus in Solothurn.
Significance
Ideals of the religious life of the order of the Visitation of Mary, its founders and saints.
Source
Unidentified. The pictura of no. 17 goes back to Ripa’s Iconologia (cf. Ripa 1643: 1.12); no. 14 is similar to Verien 1685: LXI.9.
Literature
Kdm SO 4: 298–336 (includes diagram plagiarised from this webpage); KF 3: 761–762; Loertscher 1971: 172; Graf 1974: 155, 167; Carlen 1987: 62; Wigger 1995; Banholzer 2002.
exterior of the south-western tract with the common room on the ground floor.
aereal view from south-west.
common room, view from east with emblems nos. 16, 17, etc.
common room, emblems nos. 7, 5, 4, etc.
common room,
emblems nos. 14, 15, 16, etc.
A heart pierced by an arrow; a hand pointing at it.
IL PERSE LES COEURS.
A white bird perched on a tree; a stag running.
IL VIENT SAUTANT M’EPIANT.
A lily in a flower bed.
I’AYME LA BLANCHEUR.
A phoenix in its burning nest.
IL MEURT ET REVIENT.
Two hands holding a rope with a knot in the shape of a cross.
LA CROIX MON AMOUR.
Two crossed swords.
PAR LES ARMES LA PAIX.
An eye in a cloud above the starry sky.
HA’ QUIL EST BEAU.
Two birds in a cage.
LA CAGE PRESERVE.
The sun and stars.
SAINTETE EST MA CLAIRTE.
A shepherd with his flock and dog, playing the flute.
LA GARDE VAUT BIEN.
An eagle perched on a tree.
LE BOIS MON REPOS.
A hand presenting jewels.
SON PRIX EST GRAND.
A salamander in a fire.
LA FLAMME ME NOURRIT.
Two doves kissing.
RIEN DE PLUS DOUX.
A swan on the water, approaching the land.
DEUX ELEMENTS ME FONT CONTENT.
A mirror reflecting the sunlight.
IL REPRESENTE BIEN.
A boy riding a dolphin.
UN DOUX FARDEAU.
An arrow shot at a target.
IL ATTAINT PAR AMOUR.
A pelican feeding its young with its blood (‘the pelican in her piety’).
IL FAIT LE PERE.
A hen with her chickens.
ELLE FAIT LA MERE.
S. URSULA.
ANIMA SANCTA.
S. HYACINTIUS.
S. VICTORIA.
S. HELENA.
S. VICTOR.
S. MARIA MAGDALENA.
S. BARBARA.
S. URSUS.
ANGELUS CUSTOS.
IESUS DXLEOTUS.
SS. SACRAMENTUM.
SPIRITUS SANCTUS.
VISITATIO MARIA.
S. IOHANNES BAPTISTA.
S. IOSEPHUS.
S. ANNA.
S. AUGUSTINUS.
S. FRANCISCUS DE SALES.
B. IOANNA FRANCISCA DE CHANTAL.
Coat of arms of Johann Leonz Gugger, canon (1676) and provost (1689) of the collegiate church of St Ursus in Solothurn.
IHS [monogram of Jesus].
MARIA [monogram of Virgin Mary].
Signature of Victor Ruosinger, canon of St Ursus in Solothurn, who designed the room’s iconographic programme.
Signature of artist Wolfgang Aeby (1638–1694) with date of 1679.
Copyright note: Added 2015, revised 2026. All photos taken by the author, May 2013 and September 2018, except for the aerial view taken from www.lds.geo.uzh.ch (Schweizer Luftwaffe, 2015). Site plan reproduced from KF 3: 761.