medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Jon Cannon wrote:
> John Briggs wrote:
>>
>> I see from the programme that one of your colleagues has unwisely strayed
>> into the "seven lamps of wisdom" territory about which we teased you
>> mercilessly a couple of years ago :-)
>
> Indeed! Having had a 'this is just a poetic trope' response from one
> source (yourself I recall), I got a 'this is one of the richest and
> more relevant of Marian expressions' from another. A paper seemed in
> order
Er, not exactly - the point I made then was that this was a mistake (an
unkind person would say a blunder...):
Seven Pillars of Wisdom => T.E. Lawrence
Seven Lamps of Architecture => John Ruskin
(So, Pillars = Wisdom, and Lamps = Architecture. It ought to be the other
way around - but it isn't...)
Proverbs, 9:1 "Sapientia ĉdificavit sibi domum : excidit columnas septem."
Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars.
As for Lamps, they would either be Septem lucernae (Exodus 25:37, Exodus
37:23 and Numbers 8:2) or Septem Lampades (Rev 4:5):
"... et septem lampades ardentes ante thronum quae sunt septem spiritus
Dei."
But lamps are a red herring... (The Abbot of St Augustine's wrote to the
Dean of Wells asking for the loan of the servant 'L' to hew out the Seven
Pillars of Wisdom's House.)
John Briggs
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