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Notes on the Images of the Book of Good Love

1987; University of California; Volume: 18; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

1557-0290

María Morrás,

Byzantine Studies and History

NOTES ON THE IMAGES OF THE BOOK OF GOOD LOVE Maria Morras R e s e a r c h o n i c o n o g r a p h y seems t o b e i n c r e a s i n g l y p o p u l a r w i t h i n a n d o u t s i d e H i s p a n i s m . A q u i c k glance at t h e m o s t i m p o r t a n t p e r i o d i c a l s o n t h e M i d d l e A g e s is e n o u g h t o perceive it. T h r e e k i n d s of s t u d i e s c a n b e d i s c e r n e d : t h e o n e s w h i c h deal with t h e i m a g e r y of o n e p a r t i c u l a r w o r k , t h o s e that study the m e a n i n g of certain images, a n d t h o s e in which t h e cen­ tral c o n c e r n is t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p between text a n d illustrations. T h e first t w o c o u l d be d e s c r i b e d as an a t t e m p t t o fix t h e s y m b o l i s m of t h e i m a g e s by l o c a t i n g t h e m w i t h i n a given t r a d i t i o n . At t h e s a m e t i m e s u c h w o r k s t r y to disclose t h e role t h a t images play in t h e s t r u c t u r e of p a r t i c u l a r medieval t e x t s . T h e t h i r d g r o u p consists of p u b l i c a t i o n s t h a t e x a m i n e a m e d i e v a l text as a w h o l e m a d e u p of b o t h w o r d s a n d illustrations, which a r e equally essential elements for a c o m p l e t e u n d e r s t a n d i n g of a n y text. S o m e t i m e s t h e first a r e viewed as s u b o r d i n a t e d to t h e latter, in o t h e r cases pictures could b e a visual t r a n s l a t i o n of t h e w r i t t e n text. D u e in g r e a t p a r t t o t h e excel­ lent c o n d i t i o n a n d quality of its illustrations, A l f o n s o X ' s Cantigas de Santa Maria h a v e b e e n a n especially favorite s u b j e c t for t h i s kind o f r e s e a r c h . I n spite of t h e limited a m o u n t of w e l l - p r e s e r v e d i l l u m i n a t e d codices s c h o l a r s h a v e n o t been d i s c o u r a g e d . P i c t u r e s a n d s c u l p t u r e s offer a w i d e r a n g e of i c o n o g r a p h i c m o t i v e s t h a t h a v e p r o v e d useful for t h e s t u d y of medieval literature. T h e k n o w l e d g e of visual a r t s as a h e r m e n e u t i c t o o l for i n t e r p r e t a t i o n a n d t o e l u c i d a t e t e x t u a l difficulties o r for b o t h tasks at t h e s a m e t i m e h a s a l r e a d y r e n d e r e d p o s i t i v e r e s u l t s . T h e n u m b e r of articles w h i c h h a v e a p p e a r e d in t h e last y e a r s is a t e s t i m o n y t o t h e interest in t h e s u b j e c t , as well as a c o n s e q u e n c e of real n e c e s s i t y . In the urge to reach immediate conclusions, however, i m p o r t a n t theo­ retical a s p e c t s h a v e often b e e n n e g l e c t e d . A s a r e s u l t , s o m e of t h e w o r k s p u b l i s h e d seem t o b e h a n d f u l s of n o t e s d e r i v e d f r o m i n d i v i d u a l i n t u i t i o n r a t h e r t h a n from a c c u r a c y in o b s e r v a t i o n a n d reliable k n o w l e d g e . F o r in­ s t a n c e , t h e t e r m i m a g e is used for all t h e figures related to c o m p a r i s o n a n d visual r e p r e s e n t a t i o n b y w o r d s . Before focusing o n t h e s t u d y of a text