LHS Carol Service and Tableaux 2022
On 5 and 6 December, Loughborough High School welcomed pupils, parents, staff and alumni to celebrate the festive season with their Carol Service in the LHS Hall. The High School Carol Service is much like any other service with the traditional readings and carols. However, what makes it unique and iconic are the 9 tableaux depicted by Year 13 students.
A Short History of Tableaux
A tableau or tableau vivant is a static posed or silent scene of people in costume who are carefully posed and often with scenery and/or props to create a scene which often imitated well-known works of art or dramatic scenes from history and literature.
Before more common forms of amusement such as radio, film and television, a tableau or tableau vivant was a popular form of entertainment created by both amateurs in drawing rooms and in professionally produced theatre performances. These tableaux were presented one after the other, usually to tell a story without the need for the extra elements to give a full theatrical performance. During the Victorian period, they often formed the basis of school Nativity Plays. It is thought that LHS is the only school in England which continues to practice this custom, recreating a number of significant Renaissance artworks to tell the story of the birth of Christ.
Tableaux was introduced to LHS by Miss Bristol, the Headmistress of the School between 1920-40 in 1925. Until recently, the date of the first service which included tableaux was not really known. It was believed that it started in the 1920s, which over time became ‘1920’ itself as the history was shared between those involved over the generations. However, some recent extensive work in the archive has revealed that the actual starting date for a Carol Service incorporating tableaux was 1925.
Following its introduction, the popularity of the event grew, as did the number of girls in the School. It therefore became increasingly difficult to accommodate the audiences in the School Hall. In 1933, Miss Bristol decided on a change, replacing the usual Carole Service ‘which we have worked out for ourselves and which we have presented to the parents of the school for some eight or nine years’ with a performance of ‘Eagerheart: A Christmas Mystery Play’ at the Town Hall. This play was also performed as the festive celebration at the Town Hall in 1934.
After this however, the School voted between continuing with ‘Eagerheart’ or returning to tableaux, with the student body voting emphatically to return to the previous Carol Service with tableaux with reasons such as ‘all the school can get involved’ being cited.
From 1935 onwards, the Carol Service with Tableaux has been performed every year at school, including during the years of the Second World War, only to be stopped in its tracks by Covid restrictions in 2020.
The tableaux created now would look familiar to those who performed in or watched it during the 20th century, although changes have been constantly made. Various new scenes have been added or adjusted over the decades, often reflecting the taste of the Headmistress or teacher in charge of tableaux. Over 70 different paintings have been depicted over the years, the majority of them being Renaissance paintings. The themes of the pictures have tended to remain consistent, as they tell the Christmas story, however a variety of paintings by different artists have been used to illustrate them.
Here are this year’s tableaux with the original image they are inspired by.
Tableau 1: The Annunciation, Fra Angelico, ca.1440-1445, tempera on wood, Convent of San Marco, Florence, Italy.
Where: Convent of San Marco, Florence Italy
Reading: Luke Chp1. V-26-36
Fun Facts: Used Since 1979. The first Tableau has always been the Annunciation, with a variety of artist’s work used including Fra Lippo Lippi, Botticelli, Duccio, Simone Martini, Fillippo Lippu, The Master of Lies-Born and a Russian icon from XIV century.
Tableau 2: The Visitation, Lorenzo Monaco (1370-1425), 1405-10, tempera on wood.
Where: The Courtauld Gallery, London.
Reading: Luke 1:39-45 New International Version
Fun Facts: Used since 2014. This scene was not previously represented in the service. (Tableau 2 usually depicted the Shepherds in the fields.) Lorenzo Monaco was an Italian painter born in Siena, who spent all is professional life in Florence. This panel painting formed part of a predella and is believed to have come from an altarpiece.
Tableau 3: The Virgin Adoring (or The Nativity), Piero della Francesca (1415-1492), 1470, oil on poplar.
Where: National Gallery, London.
Reading: Matthew chp2. v1-8.
Fun Facts: Used as tableau 3 since 2014 but used sporadically as T2, T5 and T6 since 1935. Piero della Francesca was an Italian artist of the Early Renaissance. The landscape in the back is a tiny picture of Borgo San Sepolcro where della Francesca was born.
Tableau 4: The Angel’s Announcement to the Shepherds, Jean Bourdichon (1457-1521)
Where: La Bibliotheque Nationale de France
Reading: Luke, Chp. 2 v.8-14.
Fun Facts: Used as T3 between 1986-2013 and as T4 since 2014. This image was taken from the Grande Heure of Brittany, Queen of France. These were devotional books which were common in the medieval period.
Tableau 5: The Adoration of the Shepherds, Guido Reni (1575-1642), C.1640, oil on canvas.
Where: The National Gallery, London
Reading: Luke chp 2 v15-20
Fun Facts: Used as T4 1979-2013 and as T5 from 2014. Previous ‘The Shepherds Worshipping’ was portrayed using works by William Hole, El Greco, Riberia, Bonifazio di Pitati and Rembrandt.
Between tableaux 5 and 6 is the Kings Procession, in which the Kings process through the audience and onto the stage before disappearing behind a curtain, accompanied by The choir singing ‘We Three Kings.’
Tableau 6: The Adoration of the Magi, Albrecht Durer (1471-1528), 1504, oil on wood.
Where: Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence, Italy #
Reading: Matthew chp 2 v9-11
Fun Facts: Used since 1996. Other ‘Adoration of the Magi/Kings’ used have been Eric Gill, Brueghel, Rubens , Mabuse, Giotto, Veronese, Botticelli, Foppa, Corregio, Roger van der Weyden and Georgione.
Tableau 7: The Presentation in the Temple, A miniature from the Book of Hours, 1454
Reading: Luke chp2 v22 and v25-32
Fun Facts: Used since 1981. Other ‘The Presentation in the Temple’ works of art have been used by William Hole, Giovanni Bellini, Taddeo Gaddi, Memlinc, and one from a XIV Century Salter. Books of Hours first appeared in the 13th century and have been characterised as the medieval ‘best seller.’ The grisaille technique (grey painting style) was used in book illumination since the C14th.
Tableau 8: Madonna and the Saints, Filippino Lippi (1457-1504), 1488, oil on panel.
Where: Church of Santo Spirito in Florence
Reading: Isaiah chp 9 v2 and 5-7
Fun Facts: Used since 2001. A year 7 student is used to play St John the Baptist. A variety of different themed paintings have been used at this part of the service.
Tableau 9: Madonna of the Candelabra, Raphael (1483-1520), 1513, oil on panel.
Where Walters Art Museum, Baltimore
Reading: John chp 1 v1-14
Fun Facts: Used since 1979. This final tableau was until that year Madonna Della Sedia (after Raphael). A boy (and sometimes a girl) from Fairfield is used to play Jesus. Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino known simply as Raphael was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance, celebrated for the perfection and grace of his paintings and drawings.
The tableaux were accompanied by readings by pupils and staff and also music performed and sung beautifully by the choirs and soloists.
