medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Thank's John!
I must confess not to have done my homework, like consulting the Vienna
catalogue by Julius Hermann (Beschreibendes Verzeichniss, etc).
Ottonian art is not my home field, I need a reference just to show
that the popular calendar pictures, as we know them from the 15th C.
are direct followers of a Late Antique Roman tradition, and thus exclude
any speculation about a Christian origin, or major inventions later than
the Carolingian Renaissance.
To fully understand the tradition is it unfortunately necessary to
consider the lost copy of the Calendar of Filocalus of 354 A.D.
Here is the man of March (MENSIS MARTIUS) standing with a goat,
instead of a snake. But both representations are derived from the same
concept, with the man pointing at a bird as his primary occupation.
(K. Weitzmann: Late Antique and Early Christian Book Illumination, 1977,
p.11-12, and bibliography on the calendar from 354). I asked for a link,
in order NOT to get involved in this major problem!
I'm afraid the term Ophiuchus falls outside my competance!
Which text is it based on?
Best
Erik Drigsdahl
At 0:51 +0200 01/07/03, John B. Dillon wrote:
>I couldn't find a reproduction quickly. But it appears from
>http://www.gened.arizona.edu/aclassen/people.htm
>(a dead link) that Prof. Albrecht Classen (German Studies, Univ. of
>Arizona) posted a link to one on one of his web pages not too long
>ago. Perhaps he also downloaded a copy.
>Is the March man with the snake iconographically similar to Ophiuchus (a
>late December constellation)? Could he have been transferred from one
>end-of-the-year to another? Just a thought.
>Best,
>John Dillon
_____________________________________________________________________
Mag.art. Erik Drigsdahl CHD Center for Haandskriftstudier i Danmark
Kapelvej 25B 3.tv Phone: +45 +35 37 20 47
DK-2200 Copenhagen N Email: <[log in to unmask]>
DENMARK http://www.chd.dk
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