medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
From: John Dillon <[log in to unmask]>
>John M. Dillon, ed., _The Afterlife of the Platonic Soul: Reflections of
Platonic Psychology in the Monotheistic Religions_ (Leiden: Brill, 2009),
jarred me into thinking that perhaps i could float a Query which has been on
my mind for some time.
lately, i've been working on the various styles of manuscript illumination to
be seen in 11th c. productions from the scriptorium of the Benedictine house
of St. Peter's of Chartres, including works such as this
http://ariadne.org/cc/mss/chartresmss/bm120/ms120-f57v-mark.jpg
designs like this are sometimes described, in the literature, as "primitif"
or, in somewhat less invidious terms, “archaïque."
however, upon closer examination, i find them to be quite deliberately and
"perfectly" conceived and executed, and
i've come to the conclusion (or the Mare's Nest, whichever) that a large part
of the explanation for the overall appearance of images like this one is due
to the utter disinterest in (and/or disdain for) replicating what we normally
refer to as the "real" (i.e., the phenomenal) world.
in favor of a Real world --something very close (as i imagine it to be) to the
world of Platonic Forms.
the passage in John of Salisbury's Metalogicon to the effect that "Bernard of
Chartres [scholasticus of the cathedral school, fl. c. 1130] was the greatest
Platonist of his time" is often cited --among other evidences-- for the
prevalence of Platonic ideas in Chartres in the 12th c., but it is clear to me
that (and this is hardly an original thought) it is quite likely that such
ideas --or, more pervasively, a general "mind set"-- was the fundamental world
view of, not just Chartrainers, but of the whole of the High M.A. (at least),
and it was this autogenetic world view which, ultimately, accounts for the
style(s) we see.
never having been at all up on the literature on this question, i have, in
recent decades, backslid into a state of near-perfect ignorance of it.
could someone (John? Grover?) point me to a "Platonism for the Complete Idiot"
introduction to the subject?
many thanks.
c
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