medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
The second baptism passage mentioned below is closest to Matt 3.17 ("This is"
rather than "You are" as in the parallels in Mark and Luke), and the
"transfiguration" voice of both Matt 17.5 and Mark 9.7 (compare Luke 9.35 --
"This is my chosen son").
As for the more mysterious inscription, is it possible that the stained glass
panels have been modified somehow in a restoration or relocation process (this
sometimes happens -- words drop out or get muddled when the inscribed panels are
moved)? In baptismal scenes, reference to the "firstborn son who reigns forever"
is found in the Gospel According to the Hebrews according to Jerome (in Isa
11.2), if that is of any help!?
Bob
>
> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
>
> A few days ago, I was seeking help with on-line searches of Vulgates in my
> research of what is proving to be a fairly elusive inscription. Many thanks to all
> those who steered me in the right directions. Having spent hours of fun on
> Vulsearch, and other on-line Bible texts, as well as on the on-line Patrologia Latina,
> I have not yet found any leads as to where this inscription comes from. But I have
> continued to work on this and, once again, seek the advice of this august electronic
> collective.
> The inscription, which reads "FILIIS HOMINU[M] P[AR]S ERIT IN E[TERNO]" is, I
> now believe, faulty, which explains why any literal translation is a bit tortured. What
> I perhaps should have mentioned last time is that the inscription is in a small panel
> of stained glass of c.1500, perhaps from southern Germany, and accompanies
> images of God the Father and the dove of the Holy Spirit. It probably occupied a
> small tracery light above the main fields of the window. A similar arrangement can
> be seen in a larger composition of stained glass in the Schnutgen Museum in
> Cologne, where God the Father and the dove, accompanied by an inscription, are
> located above a scene of the Baptism of Christ. In that case, the inscription is
> clearly biblical: "Erit filius meus delectus". And it relates directly to the Baptism
> below. As in my inscription, the verb "erit" crops up, even though Luke 9:35, inter
> alia, has "Hic est filius meus delectus" (is the change to "erit" some sort of
> inscriptional rhetoric?).
> I would similarly imagine that my small panel accompanied a Christological scene,
> such as the Crucifixion or Ascension, and as in the Schnutgen Museum piece, the
> inscription would represent the "speech" of God the Father. If this is the case, it is
> easy to imagine "filiis hominum" being an incorrect version of "filius hominis", giving
> the sense of "The Son of Man will be part of the altar forever". Does such a
> sentiment remind anyone of anything? Any other comments or leads? Certainly,
> any input would be welcome, for which I thank you in advance.
> Cheers,
> Jim Bugslag
>
> **********************************************************************
> To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME
> to: [log in to unmask]
> To send a message to the list, address it to:
> [log in to unmask]
> To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion
> to: [log in to unmask]
> In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to:
> [log in to unmask]
> For further information, visit our web site:
> http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html
>
--
Robert A. Kraft, Religious Studies, University of Pennsylvania
227 Logan Hall (Philadelphia PA 19104-6304); tel. 215 898-5827
[log in to unmask]
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/rs/rak/kraft.html
**********************************************************************
To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME
to: [log in to unmask]
To send a message to the list, address it to:
[log in to unmask]
To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion
to: [log in to unmask]
In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to:
[log in to unmask]
For further information, visit our web site:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html
