What Is Being Illustrated? Case Study of a "Revised" St. Agnes Vita in the Earliest German Translation of the Legenda Aurea (1362)

Very few copies of Jacobus de Voragine's Latin "best seller," the Legenda aurea, were supplied with illustrations. Yet a large number of its vernacular translations were generously illustrated. Accordingly, these "visual narratives" must also be "read" and interpre...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of medieval religious cultures
Main Author: Winston-Allen, Anne 1942- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Penn State Univ. Press 2021
In: Journal of medieval religious cultures
Year: 2021, Volume: 47, Issue: 2, Pages: 113-138
IxTheo Classification:CD Christianity and Culture
CE Christian art
KAE Church history 900-1300; high Middle Ages
KAF Church history 1300-1500; late Middle Ages
KCD Hagiography; saints
Further subjects:B mystical courtship
B Illustrations
B Manuscript
B vernacular translations
B Legenda aurea (The golden legend)
B Iconography
B St. Agnes of Rome
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:Very few copies of Jacobus de Voragine's Latin "best seller," the Legenda aurea, were supplied with illustrations. Yet a large number of its vernacular translations were generously illustrated. Accordingly, these "visual narratives" must also be "read" and interpreted. For, as Mieke Bal observed, an illustration "does not replace a text, it is one." The image of St. Agnes painted in 1362 for the earliest German translation is a surprising example unlike any other depiction of the saint before or after it. Examining what was behind this image casts light on alternative ways in which different medieval audiences understood the text.
ISSN:2153-9650
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal of medieval religious cultures