medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Another suggestion: You could see ist as "panis vitae", cf. Joh 6, 35
(dixit autem eis Iesus ego sum panis vitae qui veniet ad me non
esuriet et qui credit in me non sitiet umquam), perhaps connected with
the idea of an burial in the oven and resurrection ...
yours
karl
Am 21.02.2008 um 17:18 schrieb Christopher Crockett:
> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and
> culture
>
> a question came up on my little Chartres discussion list which might
> be of
> interest to some here --and my list might could use a bit of Adult
> Guidence,
> should anyone here wish to venture an opinion on a curious question.
>
> as most will know, some/most of the early 13th c. "lancet" windows
> in the side
> aisles of the nave of the spiffy new cathedral of Chartres have, in
> their
> lowest register, scenes which illustrate the work of the donors of
> the various
> windows, who were members of the various trades and crafts in the
> city.
>
> the "Apostles" window was given by the bakers, and we see three
> scenes in the
> lowest register of it.
>
> in the right corner, three bakers do the final kneading of small
> lumps of
> dough on a table; while two others shape the (round) loaves and put
> them in
> the oven(?):
>
> http://snapageno.free.fr/Churches/Chartres/TradesCrafts/TradesCrafts034_std.jpg
>
> in the largest scene, in the center of the window, a young fellow is
> completing the sale of a loaf to a customer
>
> http://snapageno.free.fr/Churches/Chartres/TradesCrafts/TradesCrafts033_std.jpg
>
> the panel in the lower left of the window depicts the
> (chronologically)
> beginning of the trade's work,
>
> http://snapageno.free.fr/Churches/Chartres/TradesCrafts/TradesCrafts032_std.jpg
>
> at first glance, we see a baker kneading a very large lump of dough
> which is
> in a large, wooden trough (it can't be a "cabinet" because there
> were no
> "cabinets" in the m.a.).
>
> his young assistant stands with a vase of (warm) water taken from a
> cauldron
> which sits over a fire.
>
> pieces of cloth hang on a rod above, presumably to be used to cover
> the dough
> after it is kneaded and is left alone a while in order to do its first
> "rising."
>
>
> so far, so good, pretty straightforward stuff.
>
> however, a closer look at this last scene --aided by a more detailed
> photograph-- shows us that something else is going on here, as well
>
> http://snapageno.free.fr/Churches/Chartres/TradesCrafts/ch0204e29.jpg
> (WARNING: LARGE FILE --2,482Kb)
>
> here we can clearly see that there is the face of a bearded man
> (with closed
> eyes) on the surface of the lump of dough.
>
> now speculation about this head on my list ranges from its belonging
> to a
> legless midget who is being buried in a typical 13th c. sarcophagus
> with legs
> by some hapless bakers turned undertakers in order to take advantage
> of the
> decline in their old profession and the boom in the new one...
>
> or
>
> to a legless midget who succumbed to the Great Pox Epidemic of 1226
> and is
> being buried in a typical 13th c. sarcophagus with legs by some (of
> the few)
> survivors, who happen to be bakers turned undertakers in order to take
> advantage of the decline in their old profession and the boom in the
> new
> one...
>
>
> a third possiblity exists, i suppose:
>
> perhaps it is a question of a miracle in which the Head of Christ
> appears on
> the dough which is being kneaded for the Host.
>
> however, it appears that no scholar who has worked on this window
> has been
> able to uncover a text which records such a miracle.
>
> does anyone on the list know of such an one?
>
> (or have another alternative interpretation?)
>
> c
>
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