My thanks to Francine Nicholson for kindly correcting some of my
carelessnesses.
And to Stan Metheny for transforming my foggy "Tolite, O Portas" into a more
literate "Atollite, portae" (though it seems like if the occasional fatigued
priest can leave out a filius or two, I ought to be able to at least mangle
the language more than a bit).
> I suspect it may not have been a scriptural text that inspired the carver of
the garment tosser but rather the second of the two antiphons that accompany
Psalm 23 (24)....
Well, ultimately, yes; but the iconographic tradition was flourishing as well.
Chicken and egg problem.
>But I often wonder if my own experience growing up in a Catholic ghetto
doesn't mirror somewhat the experience of many medieval communities. The
liturgical formularies were our major intro to scripture, and left impressions
on us long before we read scripture. (For many, the reading never took place;
the hearing of the formularies was their entire exposure.)...>
Surely this is/was the case, even assuming a reasonable literacy rate among
the tiny fraction of the population who had the time to read and access to
*some* books.
>It would be an interesting study, if not yet undertaken, to discuss the
influence of the liturgical formularies in the popular absorption of scripture
vs. the influence of the formal reading of the texts.>
Being so clearly iconographically challenged myself, I can only assume that
Professional Iconographers have well-thumbed copies of these formularies close
at hand.
>Holy Week ceremonies, especially, were great dramatic plays come to life in
ritual settings that were not easy to forget...and the images they created
were vivid and not readily forgotten.>
Good point; especially that last bit, for a largely unliterate public.
>Is this merely an anachronistic idea?
Suppose it could be, but, being anachronistically challenged myself, I
couldn't say.
Sounds good to me.
Thanks again.
Best from here,
Christopher
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