Dear jw,
This may be passe by now, but the initial for St. Benedict looks like an F
to me, as in 'Fuit vir vite venerabil[is]. Why 'unfinished?'
Luciana Cuppo Csaki
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http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Aegean/9891
----- Original Message -----
From: "John B. Wickstrom" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, February 01, 2001 12:06 PM
Subject: Re: Image of St. Benedict
> Looking at the image again after your comments, Stephen, I wonder if one
> should make much of the color scheme of the image echoing the foliage
> surrounding. My impression is that color is a tricky issue, and that some
> entity might be colored for effect rather than "realism" is not uncommon.
.
> But I'm more interested in your observation that the image looks
unfinished.
> I agree. It looks as if the artist wanted to put more beneath the existing
> image but perhaps the exigencies of the page precluded that.
> Moreover, I'm wondering what the blue majuscule "initial" is supposed to
be.
> If I read the text correctly it would have to be a "V" which is surely is
> not. Also it looks to me as if the first word "Vivit" is complete in the
> text (abbreviated). So, curiouser and curiouser...
> jw
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Stephen J. Harris
> Sent: Thursday, February 01, 2001 10:19 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Image of St. Benedict
>
>
> It really doesn't look to me like a stream, since I don't see stylized
> waves,
> and the dark line that might be construed as a shoreline seems to curve
> anomalously around the outline of the majuscule. Also, the color of the
> "water" (even if the pigment has degraded) is reproduced on an acanthus
leaf
> in the right margin and on petals as well. Your proposal represents
"water"
> with the same color as the foliage, which to me seems unlikely. Finally,
the
> illumination looks unfinished to me. Given the relatively realistic
> proportions of the body and the lack of anything visible below the knee,
I'd
> be cautious with a claim that he is standing in water.
>
> Cheers,
> Stephen
>
> John Wickstrom wrote:
>
> > I was browsing the other day through the splendid Ecole Initiative
> > collection of saints' images when I came across the following image of
> St.
> > Benedict:
> >
> > http://www.bnf.fr/enluminures/images/jpeg/i8_0054.jpg
> >
> > Does he seem to you to be standing in water or a stream holding up his
> > garment? If so, I have never seen such an image of Benedict, nor can I
> > imagine what in his legend would suggest such an image (the text being
> > illustrated is the famous Vita of Benedict by Pope Gregory I. Anyone
have
> > any ideas on this?
> > best,
> > John Wickstrom
> > Kalamazoo College
>
> --
> Stephen J. Harris
> Assistant Professor
> Department of English
> Bartlett Hall
> University of Massachusetts
> Amherst, MA 01003
>
> 413-545-6598 (fax 413-545-3880)
> [log in to unmask]
> http://www.bede.net/umass.html
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