medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Hi All,
I'm working with the description of Margaret of York's tomb in MS Arsenal
CFR 62541, a manuscript dating to 1550-1560. The tomb itself was destroyed in
one of the outbreaks of iconoclasm shortly after the manuscript was written,
so the manuscript is the only real evidence we have of what the tomb looked
like. In addition to a description of the tomb, which was located in the
church of the Observant Franciscan friars in Malines, the manuscript includes
a drawing of the angel holding Margaret's arms that adorned the tomb. Now, I
realize that this may be the manuscript writer's / illustrator's
interpretation, and thus not necessarily accurate, but something about the
angel strikes me as a bit strange. However, since I know very little about
traditions of representing angels in medieval / early modern art, maybe I
just haven't seen many like it before.
Rather than having the sort of "golden glow around the head" halo I'm
accustomed to seeing in manuscript illuminations and paintings etc., this
angel is wearing something that looks more like a crown--it is placed well
down on his head, over his hair, and it has a cross projecting up from the
front. Can someone tell me if this is in fact unusual, or if it is a typical
way of portraying an angel's halo? The only angels that I've seen of which
this one reminds me somethwat are those in the Wilton Diptych (and the
political implications of this similarity intrigue me). Thanks very much.
All the best,
Nancy
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