medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Dear Carlos,
I phrased my question - perhaps naive and uninformed -
poorly. I should have asked if Erich, Merlini and
Luther were mistaken, driven by an agenda, etc. I
freely and humbly confess that I don't know who Erich
and Merlini are, but do wonder if they have the
absolute last word in iconographical identification
especially since you're on a quest for the source for
this motif. Is it possible that there is no source and
that the suggestion that the devil is disguised as a
monk is just one intelligent hypothesis among many
possibilities?
> I think that Luther identifying the image as a
> devilish monk allows us
> to agree with Erich/Merlini
Au contraire ;-) I think Luther would have had many
reasons having nothing to do with iconographical
source material for agreeing with this suggestion.
Just a few thoughts - and not of the pugnacious
variety
:-))
MG
>
> >If indeed this is the devil depicted in disguise,
> that
> is a fairly common medieval practice.
>
> Of course, the devil is polymorphic
>
> >I particularly like the message conveyed by the
> Eve-faced serpent in the
> Garden of Eden.
>
> Some months ago there was a discussion on this
> iconography (I can't
> remember if it was in this list), and Professor
> Frances Gussenhoven quoted
> the possible source for this motif: "Elegit etiam
> quoddam genus serpentis,
> ut ait Beda, virginem vultum habens, quia similia
> similibus applaudunt" (P.
> Comestor, _Historia Scholastica_, 21). (see now. J.
> I. Gonzalez Montañes,
> _Drama e iconografia en el arte medieval peninsular
> (siglos XI-XV), Ph.
> Diss., Madrid, 2002)
>
> What I am trying to find is a source for the monk
> motif (maybe some
> play?). Erich states
> that this iconography appeared in the 14th century,
> but I think there are
> earlier examples.
>
> Thanks for your comments,
>
> Best Regards
>
> Carlos
>
>
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