medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Jon Cannon wrote:
> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and
> culture
> ...I like the term 'social body' for the late medieval effigies one
> finds on transi tombs. I've recently studied one of these in detail -
> John Carpenter, bp. of Worcester, to be published by the Bristol
> Record Society later this year. In this case there is (and probably
> never was) a 'social body', just a cadaver with mitre and staff to
> indicate status in life. But the (lost but reconstructable)
> architectural and iconographic setting for this tomb strongly suggests
> a 'Resurrection' layer of meaning, too, at least in this case.
>
> ...If these are the 'social bodies' of the people concerned, I wonder
> if we need another for the more standardised and idealised effigies of
> the C13/C14...
In images of the Last Judgement, the Resurrected are generally shown
naked, although one occasionally sees a naked bishop wearing his mitre
or a naked king with his crown. One further factor that might argue
against the "Resurrection" state is that the Resurrected have, I
believe, not simply a perfectly resurrected body but also have their
souls reconjoined with those bodies, whereas from about the late 13th
century, one begins to get small images of a naked soul in the bosom of
Abraham in the canopywork sheltering the effigy. And in the case of
tomb brasses and other "floor tombs" the effigy is, if not intended to
be walked on, at least expected to be walked on -- which might suggest
that it was meant just to represent the mortal body rather than the
Resurrected one. Another factor, certainly, is the lack of any
naturalistic portrait for an effigy before about the late 14th century.
>
> ...In England there is a particularly inventive (and thus instructive)
> phase in the earlier C14, when we get figures with their eyes open
> (Bristol) or twisting on a bed of rocks, apparently about to rise up
> and draw a sword (Burrough Green, Reepham, Ingham); these presumably
> related to the much-studied and extraordinary C13 sword-reaching
> effigies (eg Dorchester abbey and elsewhere). If *these* chaps are
> depicted in the moment of resurrection, their defensive reaction may
> not sit well when Judgement begins!
When it comes right down to it, there are a lot of anomalies in funerary
effigies, and this probably, to some extent, registers broader anomalies
concerning what happens to souls between death and the Last Judgement.
Even at the "official" level of theology, there does not appear to have
been a clear single position on many aspects of eschatology.
>
> ... I am interested to learn that Panofsky talks of family tombs with
> kids in the C14. I can't think of them in England. Tomb with
> 'weepers', yes, but not specifically kids. In any case, I presume even
> our medieval people didn't think dead children would be resurrected at
> age 33! ... (though nothing would suprise me...)
There are lots of English family brasses.
Cheers,
Jim
>
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