medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
I'm fascinated by this image of John and Mark with their respective
Gospels in hand. The formats of the books seem to represent scrolls
written horizontally in "classical" fashion (rather than as rotuli, read
vertically, as often depicted in Christian iconography after about the
6th century), unless normal codices were intended by were muddled in the
restoration.
I've been collecting images of horizontal scrolls in Christian
depictions, and find that most of them are relatively early (many from
Ravenna, for example), and that after about the 6th century, many
artists understood scrolls to be vertical rotuli, like those used in
liturgical (and legal) contexts. Of course, most frequently when "books"
are depicted the codex format is represented. My interest is in the
probable loss of awareness of the horizontal scroll especially in the
west (at least one such scroll -- the "Joshua scroll" -- has been
preserved from much later), the replacement of such scrolls by codices
in the imagery, and the lingering awareness in some circles that
"scrolls" were an early book format, but by the time the artist worked,
"scroll" no longer meant the horizontal variety, but the then familiar
vertically read rotulus.
Any suggestions (or further examples) relating to this situation would
be most welcome.
Bob Kraft, UPenn
On 4/25/2012 2:55 AM, John Dillon wrote:
> Mark (at right; at left, St. John, apostle and evangelist) as depicted in the restored eleventh-century frescoes of the Karanlık kilise (Dark Church) at Göreme in Turkey's Nevşehir province:
> http://www.pbase.com/dosseman/image/41566368
>
>
**********************************************************************
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
|