Back last August, we had a discussion about the identifying attributes of
some of the Apostles. It was then suggested that the sword was St Paul's
attribute, initially because it was the instrument of his martyrdom, but
that it may then have acquired an additional significance because of his
status as a writer inspired by 'the sword of the Spirit which is the word
of God' (Ephesians 6, 17). Jim Bugslag made the point that 'exegetical
habits of mind were
adept at according objects multiple meanings'. This all had bearing on what
I was writing on medieval Welsh iconography and I included it (properly
attributed, naturally!) in a discussion of the emblems of the apostles on
the sacrarium at Gyffin, near Conwy. One reader has challenged what we said
about multivalent images, saying 'It is unhistorical to read such complex
literary meanings into it ... although objects can and do mean different
things in different contexts, they do not always mean everything, and
Paul's sword [here the notes break off]'.The same reader also says in a
general note that we have to distinguish between fundamental and secondary
meanings and present a coherent understanding of what particular images
mean in particular circumstances.
My reading of the sermon literature of the period (limited, because so
little of it is relevant to Wales) suggests that medieval preachers
certainly were adept in multiplying meanings - but whether I should be
reading this into the visual imagery, I don't know. Comments, anyone?
Maddy
Dr Madeleine Gray
Department of Humanities and Science
UWCN
'Reading is sometimes an ingenious device for avoiding thought'
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