medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
the Bathing of the Infant is represented in the capital frieze of St. Mary's
of Etampes, here seen in a wretched photo
http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSYilINLmhmA4WjCKoNuOWDLCJME5JrF8Q45IS3wfaK77UkvdkLDKCZmFpvNQ
i'm rather embarrassed to say that i can't recall whether it is to be found in
the cap frieze of Chartres or on any of the other "Early Gothic" portals
usually associated with Chartres; but i don't believe it is.
in spite of the obvious "formal" similarities, the Etampes frieze, though
almost surely executed very shortly after that at Chartres (c. 1146), is
certainly not "derived" from it and contains several elements which are not
found in the latter, much more extensive one.
for purely historical reasons, i have been toying with the idea that the
Etampes iconography is, in part at least, "Bernardian" and would be grateful
to hear from anyone more familiar than i with Bernie's works if there is
anything on the portal which rings a loud bell --perhaps the Bathing scene
might be one of these?
c
------ Original Message ------
Received: Thu, 27 Dec 2012 12:26:09 PM EST
From: James Bugslag <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [M-R] Feasts and Saints of the Day: December 25
> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
>
>
>
> Elsewhere one finds isolated instances. One is on an historiated corbel
forming part of the Nativity reliefs on the later twelfth-century facade of
the église primatiale Saint-Trophime in Arles <http://tinyurl.com/c59zrhb>
(note the similarity to representations of the baptism of Clovis!).
>
> Dear John,
> Many thanks for your thoughtful continuation of this discussion. And thank
you for reminding me of how beautiful the sculptures of Saint-Trophime are!
The corbel you point out is quite unusual among these bathing scenes in
including the dove of the Holy Spirit. Besides the baptism of Clovis, this
also suggests reference to Christ's own baptism, on which images of Clovis's
baptism were undoubtedly based. Perhaps this suggests, right at the
incarnation, Christ's mission on earth, but if you have any further thoughts,
I'd be grateful.
>
> This probably only scratches the surface. And, of course, I'm not an art
historian.
>
> It undoubtedly only does scratch the surface, John, but there is no need for
you to apologize for not being an art historian!! Besides the fact that, as
I'm sure many others on the list are as well, I am always impressed by your
erudition, it strikes me that what we are dealing with here is a historical
discourse between written texts and images that cannot be considered by means
of one or the other medium alone. It is only disciplinary limitations that
fracture the problem along those lines.
> Cheers,
> Jim
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