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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Yes, the 'Gates of Paradise' story is a pun- the space between the Cathedral and the Baptistery was called the 'paradiso'.  Andrea Pisano's doors with the life of John the Baptist were originally on the axis between Cathedral and Baptistry (and so would have been the Paradise doors), but they were replaced by Ghiberti's second doors (originally commissioned for the north entrance of the Baptistery).

Re the 'fiery whirlwinds' on the dress, I may not have made myself clear.  My point was that they were indeed meant to be suns and planets, but the fact that they were later described as 'fiery whirlwinds' suggests that there wasn't an established iconography for whirlwinds.  Elijah, as far as I know, is usually just shown with chariot but sans whirlwind. 

all best

Laura

Dr. Laura Jacobus
Senior Lecturer in History of Art
Birkbeck, University of London

 
For details of my book on Giotto and the Arena Chapel see http://www.brepols.net/Pages/ShowProduct.aspx?prod_id=IS-9781905375127-1



On 11 April 2017 at 17:32, Richard Legault <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Jim,

Yes, that is the piece where she makes a good evidence-based case for reading the Seated Ten in the lower lintel, as representing pre-Christian prophets straining to see the Christ-to-come, while the four angels, cry down from the upper lintel that He is present (Fassler 1993). While I don't fully buy the Christ to come bit, I respect the way she argues the case.

Moreover, in her book The Virgin of Chartres (2010) I like the way she nails the origin of naming the leftmost Royal Portal door the Ascension door. Namely it had a dedicated use for the Ascension day ritual procession.  As part of these processional rituals she found specifically that, “The sequence “Rex Omnipotens” was specifically prescribed for singing before the door on Ascension day [my emphasis].” I think this is strong historical evidence that explains how this doorway got its traditional name. I see it more as a descriptor of function than of artwork content.

I think the case is similar to the Florence Baptistery doors becoming known as the Gates of Paradise. According to Vasari, Michaelangelo thought they were so beautiful they could function as the Gates of Paradise. The name has everything to do with this perceived function and little to do with the actual content of the artwork. Except for minor little peeks into heaven in the background on some panels, the main subject of all 10 panels is Old Testament scenes on Earth and not in Paradise.

Thanks for pointing out Fassler. While some of her prose is a tough slog for amateurs of my ilk, she sure does get down to the nitty-gritty evidence.

Cheers,

Rick

On Tue, Apr 11, 2017 at 9:31 AM, James Bugslag <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture

Dear Richard,

Margot Fassler's article, 'Liturgy and Sacred History in the Twelfth-Century Tympana at Chartres', Art Bulletin, 75, no. 3 (Sept. 1993), 499-52, extends van der Meulen's idea, based on liturgical sources, but in her more recent writings, without actually recanting, she seems to have backed down from the position she took here.

Jim


From: medieval-religion - Scholarly discussions of medieval religious culture <[log in to unmask].UK> on behalf of Richard Legault <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: April 10, 2017 11:09:48 AM
To: [log in to unmask]UK
Subject: Re: [M-R] Whirlwind in Medieval Art
 
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
So far, I'm finding medieval images of whirlwinds are rare.

In an off-list discussion the question came up as to whether the odd "V" or "U" shaped cloud in the scene over the left-most door of the Royal Portal at Chartres might be a whirlwind. See image at:
The shape of this cloud is strikingly similar to typical Debris Clouds that form at the foot of Tornaoes, as studied and modeled by modern climatologists.

This idea aligns with Jan Van Der Meulen's view that the scene is more a Contemplation of Creation than an Ascension scene. The idea would be that the odd shaped cloud alludes to the appearance of God to Job in a whirlwind. God's litany of rhetorical questions to Job is arguably the most comprehensive description of Creation in the Bible, given in God's own voice, delivered to Job from the whirlwind.

The idea is reinforced by the odd posture of the two flanking angles in the tympanum that appear to be leaning awkwardly toward the cloud with legs braced in apparent resistance to some sort of force pushing against them.

Does anyone on the List know if this reading of the tympanum has been taken up in more detail by any serious art historians? I'd also be interested in any comments about it you may have.

Cheers,

Richard J Legault

On Mon, Apr 10, 2017 at 9:17 AM, Kurt Sherry <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
I'll admit that I'm sort of curious about it, but that's because I'm from Kansas, so tornadoes are sort of a big deal here.

- Kurt

On Thu, Apr 6, 2017 at 1:46 PM, Richard Legault <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Laura,

While the images are indeed whirly, I think I'd go with sunbursts or stars and planets, especially from the context of a Coronation of the Virgin. The astronomical images are more fitting for a queen of heaven.  
Thanks for trying. I'll keep looking.

Cheers,

Richard J Legault

On Thu, Apr 6, 2017 at 12:14 PM, Laura Jacobus <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
I doubt that there was an established iconography for the phenomenon.  I've come across a description of an (embroidered) image of a 'fiery whirlwind' (prester) but cross-referencing this description with others of the same or similar embroidery, and with a possible actual image it seems to me that the textile being described was actually embroidered with what we might call sunbursts, ie. a sun with wiggly rays.  There's a link to a paper I gave (text and images) on my academia.edu page
https://birkbeck.academia.edu/LauraJacobus. In case of doubt, it's the one called 'Fiery Whirlwinds, Flying Pigs, and a 300-year-old Virgin....'

all best

Laura

Dr. Laura Jacobus
Senior Lecturer in History of Art
Birkbeck, University of London

 
For details of my book on Giotto and the Arena Chapel see http://www.brepols.net/Pages/ShowProduct.aspx?prod_id=IS-9781905375127-1



On 5 April 2017 at 18:24, Richard Legault <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
The Whirlwind is a well known biblical image, most notably in the Book of Job, where God appears to Job from out of a whirlwind and in 2 Cronicles where Elijah is lifted up in a whirlwind. I have been searching for good examples of whirlwind images in medieval art and so far have only be able to locate one possible (see "Exhibit B" at https://listoffigures.wordpress.com/tag/tornado/).

I would be grateful to anyone on the list who can guide me to any primary medieval sources on whirlwinds (of any type including tornados, waterspouts, dust-devils and so-on) in texts, illuminations or any artwork of the period.

Thanks

Richard J Legault

  
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