Op reis met “Elckerlijc” en Stefan Mrożewski

This article deals with modern illustrations accompanying medieval text, with special attention to one publication – the modern edition of Middle Dutch Elckerlijc and the woodcuts made by Stefan Mrożewski. The article introduces the circumstances in which the book was published and in which the Polish artist prepared his prints. The main analysis discusses the choices made by Mrożewski and the many different ways in which he refers to the historic past in his work. In order to show a broader framework of the subject, the article also briefly sketches the Polish literary reception of the medieval morality play.

Jung, Aquinas, and the Aurora Consurgens: Establishing a Relationship with God

<p>The reunion of a man with God is the subject of a medieval text which aggregates excerpts from the Bible and Arabic alchemical texts that had recently become available in Europe. The Aurora Consurgens personifies God as Wisdom, a spiritual being who not only formed the world in the beginning but is also a guide to men to return to God subsequent to their separation at the Fall. The union of feminine Wisdom and a man is aligned with pairs of opposites such as spirit and soul, and is also conflated with the union of a man and a woman. While the text is perhaps falsely ascribed to St. Thomas, it is consistent with his ideas so that it may be explicated using his writings on the Trinity, psychology, angels, and Greek philosophy. From there, correspondence is established with C. G. Jung‘s concept of archetypes, and the text is subsequently interpreted from the perspective of analytical psychology. It is identified how interaction of archetypes associated with the union of a man and a woman provide an explanation for the process of redemption given in the Aurora. A similar process of redemption is identified in other writings from the beginning of the Christian era up to the modern teachings of the Catholic Church.</p>

Jung, Aquinas, and the Aurora Consurgens: Establishing a Relationship with God

<p>The reunion of a man with God is the subject of a medieval text which aggregates excerpts from the Bible and Arabic alchemical texts that had recently become available in Europe. The Aurora Consurgens personifies God as Wisdom, a spiritual being who not only formed the world in the beginning but is also a guide to men to return to God subsequent to their separation at the Fall. The union of feminine Wisdom and a man is aligned with pairs of opposites such as spirit and soul, and is also conflated with the union of a man and a woman. While the text is perhaps falsely ascribed to St. Thomas, it is consistent with his ideas so that it may be explicated using his writings on the Trinity, psychology, angels, and Greek philosophy. From there, correspondence is established with C. G. Jung‘s concept of archetypes, and the text is subsequently interpreted from the perspective of analytical psychology. It is identified how interaction of archetypes associated with the union of a man and a woman provide an explanation for the process of redemption given in the Aurora. A similar process of redemption is identified in other writings from the beginning of the Christian era up to the modern teachings of the Catholic Church.</p>

Rabbit Uroscopy and the Virgin Mary with Christ Child

Objectives The depiction of a rabbit with a urinary matula on the same page with the Virgin Mary and the Christ child in a medieval text, the Book of Hours, has raised interests among art and medical historians. We will describe the complex interplay between the rabbit, the matula, and the Virgin Mary. Methods We studied the original illuminated texts from the medieval (ca. 1475) Book of Hours archived in the Morgan Library, New York. We reviewed articles and historical publications from art history and medical literature. Results The Book of Hours was composed for use by lay people who wished to incorporate elements of monasticism into their devotional life. There was often an amalgamation of religious and secular themes within these illustrated texts. The use of uroscopy to diagnose ailments was prevalent and popular during the Middle Ages and the depiction of a matula was not uncommon in medieval manuscripts. As a result, the urine flask came to be identified with and used as a symbol of the physician, much like the caduceus is today. From the fourth century to modernity, the rabbit has been an averter of evil and bringer of good luck. Rabbits functioned as motifs in many medieval manuscripts. The physician rabbit in the Book of Hours depicted charity, healing, and scholarship. Conclusions The bespectacled rabbit holding a ‘matula’ is utilized in this Christian religious text as a symbol of the healing properties and resurrection attributed to Jesus, potentially contributing to the reader’s religious experience.

In the Beginning

Crumb spent four years illustrating the book of Genesis and this chapter explores the ways Crumb attempts to faithfully reproduce the text of Genesis while at the same time including strongly subversive interpretations. As he declared: “I did not adapt it reverently. I respected the text insofar as I did not want to ridicule it. But I see the text as actually a quite primitive document.” The chapter shows how Crumb struggled with how to portray God, as well as Adam and Eve, trying out a variety of possibilities. Crumb rejects patriarchy and he depicts female characters in the Bible such as Rachel as strong, independent and capable women. The common understanding of Crumb as a misogynist is contradicted by the ways he emphasizes a feminist interpretation of the Bible. The chapter also shows how Crumb was influenced by Assyrian art in his depiction of scenes of warfare. Here again, Crumb implicitly critiques the celebration of war in the Bible and the celebration of aggressive masculinity. The chapter also explores the theme of the spiritual double which occurs in the scene depicting Jacob wrestling with the angel and the “dark night of the soul” as well as in Crumb’s illustrations to the medieval text Piers Plowman.

“A Strange Romance,” or Abelard and Héloïse in Russia of the 18th Century

The article gives an analysis of the first Russian translation of Abelard and Héloïse’s letters (The Collection of Abelard and Héloïse’s Letters with the Life Description of These Miserable Lovers) made by A.I. Dmitriev in 1783 from Count Bussy-Raboutin’s French retelling. A comparative analysis of Dmitriev’s translation with the original text shows the conventional character of their connection. Following Bussy, Dmitriev not always sticks to the Latin original even in the main storylines. Even if he retains the canvas of the original medieval text, he supplements it with countless details: a portrait of a lover, a tear-drenched letter, mad passion. A similar transformation takes place with the Historia Calamitatum in the retelling made by Augustus von Kotzebue. In prefaces both authors designate their works as “female” reading. The interest in the story of two lovers is probably caused by the recent release of J.-J. Rousseau’s Julie, or the New Heloise. The choice of material, the nature of its adaptation, the appeal to women and the circumstances of the publication of Dmitriev’s translation and Kotzebue’s retelling demonstrate the commitment of these authors to sentimentalism, which explains their desire to cause tears in the eyes of their readers.

“A Strange Romance,” or Abelard and Héloïse in Russia of the 18th Century

The article gives an analysis of the first Russian translation of Abelard and Héloïse’s letters (The Collection of Abelard and Héloïse’s Letters with the Life Description of These Miserable Lovers) made by A.I. Dmitriev in 1783 from Count Bussy-Raboutin’s French retelling. A comparative analysis of Dmitriev’s translation with the original text shows the conventional character of their connection. Following Bussy, Dmitriev not always sticks to the Latin original even in the main storylines. Even if he retains the canvas of the original medieval text, he supplements it with countless details: a portrait of a lover, a tear-drenched letter, mad passion. A similar transformation takes place with the Historia Calamitatum in the retelling made by Augustus von Kotzebue. In prefaces both authors designate their works as “female” reading. The interest in the story of two lovers is probably caused by the recent release of J.-J. Rousseau’s Julie, or the New Heloise. The choice of material, the nature of its adaptation, the appeal to women and the circumstances of the publication of Dmitriev’s translation and Kotzebue’s retelling demonstrate the commitment of these authors to sentimentalism, which explains their desire to cause tears in the eyes of their readers.