medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
My thanks to both Henk and Judith. The image was clearly labelled
St Monica, which makes the IHS and hourglass all the more
inexplicable. The roundel was originally in the Franciscan convent
at Venray in southeastern Netherlands.
Cheers,
Jim
On 22/11/2010 12:41 PM, Judith Rosenberg wrote:
[log in to unmask]"
type="cite">medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval
religion and culture
Re: [M-R] FW: Essex reliquary: Long hair and spikenard?
Henk,
My typo, Zandlooper, as Dr. Bugslag indicates, is what he’s
looking for...the one with the double o does seem to be in
Belgium...
Judith
On 11/22/10 1:36 PM, "Henk" <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval
religion and culture
A ‘zandloper’ (lit. sandrunner)
is an hourglass. So not an area in Belgium. The
hourglass, according to Van der Linden, De Heiligen (the
Saints), p 1074 is the attribute of Hieronymus of
Bethlehem or of Philiipus Benitius. But in heraldry it
stands for the passing of time, eternity, or death
(especially when winged). This work has no hourglasses
or other life-death symbols connected to St Monica.
Henk
Van:
medieval-religion - Scholarly discussions of medieval
religious culture [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Namens Dr Jim Bugslag
Verzonden: maandag 22 november 2010 18:43
Aan: [log in to unmask]
Onderwerp: Re: [M-R] FW: Essex reliquary: Long hair
and spikenard?
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval
religion and culture
Genevra,
I had occasion recently to consider this question in terms
of the monumental tomb brass of the twice-married Joan, Lady
Cromwell (d.1479) in Holy Trinity Church, Tattershall. The
brass was probably commissioned after her death, probably
c.1490, and she is represented with long, flowing hair,
uncovered but with a floral band around her head. After two
marriages, I think we can be pretty sure that she was no
longer a virgin, but I could not say whether some flattering
allusion to that state was intended. The problem with such
iconographic questions is that Emile Male was dead wrong
when he wrote about medieval artists being constrained by
iron-clad laws of representation. I'm currently trying to
figure out, for example, why a mid-17th century image of St
Monica would have her carrying two shields, one carrying the
Name of Jesus, IHS, the other "een zandlooper", whatever
that is (can any of our Dutch colleagues hazard a guess at
that?). These do not appear to be "standard" attributes of
St Monica.
Cheers,
Jim
On 22/11/2010 10:57 AM, Genevra Kornbluth wrote:
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval
religion and culture The issue is not one of verisimilitude,
but one of iconographic significance. In western medieval
art, long flowing hair (uncovered) normally identifies a
saint as a virgin or penitent. Covered hair designates a
married woman (whether to a regular man or to Christ). Hair
styled in other ways-- in a bun, braids, etc.-- may well
follow contemporary fashion. In any case, the conventions
relating to hair are specific to particular times and
places. A Bulgarian icon, especially one as late as the one
in the link appears to be, follows the conventions of a
different tradition.
The question about the Essex reliquary amulet would be, did
long unbound and uncovered hair retain its medieval
significance in this sixteenth-century work? Do specific
images from the fifteenth or sixteenth century demonstrate a
shift of meaning?
Best,
Genevra
On 11/22/2010 11:33 AM, Marjorie Greene wrote:
Here:
http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helena_of_Constantinople
she's uncrowned, holding a big cross, but hair is not
flowing (left) and crowned, flowing hair, holding a somewhat
stylized cross (right).
I suspect that the hair thing has to do more with ladies'
hair styles of the time of the creation of the image than
with any attempt at verisimilitude.
MG
**********************************************************************
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
**********************************************************************
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
**********************************************************************
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
**********************************************************************
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
**********************************************************************
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