Vision, Devotion, and Self Representation in Late

Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-03222-4 - Vision, Devotion, and Self-Representation in Late Medieval Art Alexa Sand Frontmatter More information

VISION, DEVOTION, AND SELFREPRESENTATION IN LATE MEDIEVAL ART

This book investigates the “owner portrait” in the context of late medieval devotional books primarily from France and England. These mirror-like pictures of praying book owners respond to and help develop a growing concern with visibility and self-scrutiny that characterized the religious life of the laity after the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215. The image of the praying book owner translated preexist- ing representational strategies concerned with the authority and spiritual effi cacy of pictures and books, such as the Holy Face and the donor image, into a more inti- mate and refl exive mode of address in Psalters and Books of Hours created for lay users. Alexa Sand demonstrates how this transformation had profound implications for devotional practices and for the performance of gender and class identity in the striving, aristocratic world of late medieval France and England.

Alexa Sand is associate professor of art history at Caine College of the Arts, Utah State University. She has published articles in The Art Bulletin , Gesta , Yale French Studies , Word and Image , the Huntington Library Quarterly , Studies in Iconography , and a number of edited essay collections. She is the recipient of the ACLS Charles Ryskamp Fellowship and the AAUW American Fellowship for Publication. She was recently the Gilbert and Ursula Farfel Fellow at the Huntington Library in San Marino, California.

© in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-03222-4 - Vision, Devotion, and Self-Representation in Late Medieval Art Alexa Sand Frontmatter More information

VISION, DEVOTION, AND SELFREPRESENTATION IN LATE MEDIEVAL ART

Alexa Sand Utah State University, Logan

32 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10013-2473, USA

Cambridge University Press is part of the University of Cambridge.

It furthers the University’s mission by disseminating knowledge in the pursuit of education, learning, and research at the highest international levels of excellence.

www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9781107032224 © Alexa Sand 2014 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2014 Printed in the United States of America A catalog record for this publication is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication data Sand, Alexa Kristen. Vision, devotion, and self-representation in late medieval art / Alexa Sand. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-107-03222-4 (hardback) 1. Portraits, Medieval – England. 2. Portraits, Medieval – France. 3. Women – England – Portraits. 4. Women – France – Portraits. 5. Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval – England. 6. Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval – France. 7. Prayer books – England. 8. Prayer books – France. I. Title. ND 3337.S26 2014 745.6′7094–dc23 2013027299

ISBN 978-1-107-03222-4 Hardback

Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party Internet Web sites referred to in this publication and does not guarantee that any content on such Web sites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

CONTENTS

List of Illustrations page vii Acknowledgments xiii

INTRODUCTION SELFREFLECTION, DEVOTION, AND VISION IN THE IMAGE OF THE BOOK OWNER AT PRAYER 1

 SAVING FACE: THE VERONICA AND THE VISIO DEI 27

 FROM MEMORIA TO VISIO : REVISING THE DONOR 84

 FRAMING VISION: THE IMAGE OF THE BOOK OWNER AND THE REFLEXIVE MODE OF SEEING 149

 DOMESTICATING DEVOTION: BODY, SPACE, AND SELF 211

CONCLUSION POWER AND THE PORTRAIT: NEGOTIATING GENDER 265

Notes 293 Bibliography 359 Index 399

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Color Plates I Portrait of the book owner at prayer, matins of the Virgin, Psalter- Hours of Yolande of Soissons, Amiens, ca. 1280–1290 II Holy Face, Psalter and Hours of Yolande of Soissons, France, Amiens, ca. 1280–1290 III Second Cross of Abbess Mathilda of Essen, Rhineland, ca. 1010. Donor portrait with Virgin and Child, detail IV Marie and other pilgrims with Saint James, Madame Marie Picture Book, northern France, ca. 1280–1290 V Jeanne of Guî nes and Eu with the Virgin and Child, pictorial preface to Frè re Laurent, Somme le Roi , written by Lambert le Petit, 1311, northern France VI Followers of Jean Pucelle, Suffrage to Saint Anthony Abbot, Savoy Hours, Paris, 1335–1340 VII Followers of Jean Pucelle, Suffrage to Saint Agnes, Savoy Hours, Paris, 1335–1340 Color plates follow page xvi.

Figures 1 Initial D with Virgin in majesty, matins of the Virgin, Psalter- Hours of Yolande of Soissons, Amiens, ca. 1280–1290 page 3 2 Philip III of France and Isabella of Aragon kneel to the Virgin, relief panel from the tomb of Isabella, Cosenza (Calabria), Duomo, after 1271 9 3 Sainte Face , icon of the Holy Face, late twelfth century, Serbian (Laon, Cathedral Treasury) 35 4 Attributed to Matthew Paris, Veronica, England, ca. 1240 39 5 Matthew Paris, Veronica, from the Chronica Majora , England, ca. 1250 43

vii

viii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

6 Matthew Paris, self-portrait with enthroned Virgin and Child, Historia Anglorum , England, 1250s 48 7 Holy Face, Psalter, England (Norwich), 1270–1280 51 8 Holy Face, Bonmont Psalter, Upper Rhine, ca. 1260 52 9 Holy Face, Hours of the Use of Châ lons-sur-Marne, fi rst quarter of fourteenth century 56 10 The Wheel of the Twelve Attributes of Human Existence , De Lisle Psalter, England (London?), 1310–1320 61 11 The Lover Offers His Heart, mirror case, ivory, France, fi rst quarter of fourteenth century 63 12 Wheel of the Ten Ages of Man , De Lisle Psalter, England (London?), 1310–1320 66 13 Twelve Articles of the Faith , De Lisle Psalter, England (London?), 1310–1320 69 14 Tree of Virtues , De Lisle Psalter, England (London?), 1310–1320 70 15 Tree of Vices , De Lisle Psalter, England (London?), 1310–1320 71 16 Attributed to Jean and Bourgot le Noir, leaf from the Hours of Yolande of Flanders, Paris, ca. 1353 76 17 Lauds of the Hours of the Virgin, The Hours of Yolande of Flanders, Paris, ca. 1353 78 18 Second Cross of Abbess Mathilda of Essen, Rhineland, ca. 1010 87 19 Detail of Abbess Mathilda, enamel, Second Cross of Abbess Mathilda of Essen, Rhineland, ca. 1010 88 20 Dedication frontispiece to the Uta Codex, Regensburg, ca. 1102–1125 93 21 Dedication page, Pontifi cal of Mainz, Rhineland, 1249–1251 97 22 Colophon page, Pontifi cal of Mainz, Rhineland, 1249–1251 97 23 Henry II presents the book to the Virgin, Gospels of Henry II, Reichenau, 1007–1012 98 24 Dedication page, Toledo-Morgan Moralized Bible, Paris, 1226–1234 101 25 Marie de Champagne, initial from the prologue to Le Chevalier de la Charette of Chré tien de Troyes, Paris, 1230–1240 106 26 Anselm presents his prayers to Mathilda of Canossa, dedication miniature, Anselm of Canterbury, Prayers and Meditations , Upper Austria, ca. 1160 111 27 Anselm presents his prayers to his monks, Anselm of Canterbury, Prayers and Meditations , Upper Austria, ca. 1160 113 28 The Conversion of Saint Paul, Anselm of Canterbury, Prayers and Meditations , Upper Austria, ca. 1160 115 29 Christ adored by Anselm and Mathilda, Anselm of Canterbury, Prayers and Meditations , Upper Austria, ca. 1160 117 30 Virgin in majesty with female supplicant, initial for Anselm’s third prayer to the Virgin, Devotional Miscellany with Anselm of Canterbury, Prayers and Meditations , England, middle of the twelfth century 119

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ix

31 Virgin with female supplicant, initial for “Singularis Meriti,” Devotional Miscellany with Anselm of Canterbury, Prayers and Meditations , England, middle of the twelfth century 120 32 Mary Magdalene anoints the feet of Christ, Anselm of Canterbury, Prayers and Meditations , Upper Austria, ca. 1160 121 33 Noli me tangere , initial to prayer to Mary Magdalene, Devotional Miscellany with Anselm of Canterbury, Prayers and Meditations , England, middle of the twelfth century 121 34 Noli me tangere /supplicant with Christ, initial to fi rst prayer to Christ, Devotional Miscellany with Anselm of Canterbury, Prayers and Meditations , England, middle of the twelfth century 122 35 Saint Nicholas and the three virgins, the dream of Nicholas, initial to prayer to Nicholas, Devotional Miscellany with Anselm of Canterbury, Prayers and Meditations , England, middle of the twelfth century 123 36 Praying cleric or author, initial to fi rst prayer to Christ, Devotional Miscellany with Anselm’s Prayers and Meditations , Oxford, ca. 1200 125 37 Cistercian abbot (Saint Bernard of Clairvaux?) in prayer, initial to the pseudo-Bernardine Meditationes piissimae , devotional miscellany with Anselm’s Prayers and Meditations, Oxford, ca. 1200 126 38 Virgin in majesty with female supplicant, initial to fi rst prayer to the Virgin, devotional miscellany with Anselm’s Prayers and Meditations, Oxford, ca. 1200 127 39 Supplicant (male or female?) with the Virgin, initial to an unattributed prayer to the Virgin, Oxford, ca. 1200 129 40 Penitent David, initial to Psalm 101, Bible, Paris, ca. 1220 136 41 Penitent David, initial D (probably for Psalm 101), Lyre Abbey Modelbook, Normandy, ca. 1230 136 42 Resurrection, Noli me tangere , miniature to Psalm 101, “Little Canterbury Psalter,” Canterbury, ca. 1200–1225 139 43 Praying fi gure, initial for Psalm 101, Corbie Psalter, early ninth century 140 44 Noblewoman (Blanche de Castile?) praying before a jeweled cross, initial to Psalm 101, Psalter of Blanche de Castile, northeastern France, ca. 1230 143 45 Royal couple praying, initial to Psalm 101, Rutland Psalter, England, ca. 1260 145 46 Male supplicant, matins of the Virgin, Psalter-Hours, Westminster Abbey (?), ca. 1175–1200 161 47 Female supplicant, matins of the Virgin, Book of Hours, northeastern France, ca. 1230 165 48 Initial for the opening of Augustine’s “Prayer Before the Psalter” Book of Hours, Soissons, 1230s 166 49 Initial for prayer, “Deus te saut, Sainte Marie” (vernacular meditation on the Angelic Salutation), Book of Hours, Soissons, 1230s 167

x LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

50 Female supplicant, Gradual Psalms, Nuremberg Hours, Paris or northern France, attributed to “Master Honoré ,” ca. 1295 170 51 Female supplicant with enthroned Virgin and Child, matins of the Virgin, Egerton Hours, Oxford or West Midlands, third quarter of the thirteenth century 171 52 Adoration of the Magi, prefatory cycle, Book of Hours, northeastern France, ca. 1230 175 53 Annunciation, matins of the Virgin, Book of Hours, Thé rouanne, 1280–1290 176 54 Marginal fi gures of angel and book owner, Book of Hours, Th é rouanne, 1280–1290 177 55 Adoration of the Magi, terce of the Virgin, Psalter-Hours of Yolande of Soissons, Amiens, ca. 1280–1290 183 56 Saint Michael with pentimento of Marie, Madame Marie Picture Book, northern France, ca. 1280–1290 187 57 Ivory diptych, eastern France, ca. 1300–1325 191 58 Noli me tangere , pictorial preface to Frè re Laurent, Somme le Roi , written by Lambert le Petit, Picardy, northern France, 1311 193 59 Marginal fi gure of praying book owner, “Nine Joys of the Virgin,” in Old French, Cambrai Hours (formerly “Hours of Mahaut of Artois”), northern France, 1312–1315 195 60 Book owners in prayer with Virgin, Old French version of O Intemerata, Cambrai Hours (formerly “Hours of Mahaut of Artois”), northern France, 1312–1315 196 61 Book owners in prayer with Virgin, “O bele dame trè s pure empeeris ,” Cambrai Hours (formerly “Hours of Mahaut of Artois”), northern France, 1312–1315 196 62 Kneeling owner with Virgin, O Intemerata , Cambrai Hours (formerly “Hours of Mahaut of Artois”), northern France, 1312–1315 197 63 Book owner prostrate at the foot of the cross, Ave fons sapientie , Cambrai Hours (formerly “Hours of Mahaut of Artois”), northern France, 1312–1315 198 64 The lady prays for relief from temptation, compline of the Virgin, Cambrai Hours (formerly “Hours of Mahaut of Artois”), northern France, 1312–1315 199 65 Holy Face, Deus qui nobis signatus , Cambrai Hours (formerly “Hours of Mahaut of Artois”), northern France, 1312–1315 201 66 Christ (?) healing a woman, Deus qui beatum cendonium , Cambrai Hours (formerly “Hours of Mahaut of Artois”), northern France, 1312–1315 201 67 Naomi, Elimelech, and sons leaving Bethlehem for Moab (Ruth 1:1), Psalter-Hours of Yolande of Soissons, Amiens, 1280–1290 219 68 Saint Francis preaching to the birds, prefatory cycle, Psalter-Hours of Yolande of Soissons, Amiens, 1280–1290 220 69 Book owner at prayer, Psalm 101, Grandisson Psalter, England, 1275 224

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xi

70 Initial B and marginalia, Psalm 1, Psalter-Hours of Yolande of Soissons, Amiens, ca. 1280–1290 225 71 Blanche of Burgundy and the Virgin, Fifteen Joys of the Virgin, Hours of Blanche of Burgundy, Paris, ca. 1314 234 72 Jean Pucelle, matins of the Virgin, Hours of Jeanne d’Evreux, Paris, 1324 235 73 Matins of the Hours of Saint Louis, Hours of Jeanne d’Evreux, Paris, 1324 236 74 Suffrage for Myself, Savoy Hours, Paris, 1335–1340 243 75 Matins of the Virgin, Hours of Jeanne de Navarre, Paris, 1336– 1340 244 76 Flagellation of Christ with praying owner, French prayer, Hours of Jeanne de Navarre, Paris, 1336–1340 245 77 Jean and Bourgot le Noir, Bonne and Jean contemplate the wounds of Christ, Psalter-Hours of Bonne of Luxembourg, Paris, before 1349 247 78 Jean and Bourgot le Noir, Wounds of the Passion, Psalter-Hours of Bonne of Luxembourg, Paris, before 1349 248 79 Frontispiece, Cuerden Psalter, Canterbury, ca. 1250 249 80 Hours of the Trinity, Pabenham-Clifford Hours, East Anglia, ca. 1320–1330 251 81 Female head, Pabenham-Clifford Hours, East Anglia, ca. 1320– 1330 252 82 Female head, Welles Apocalypse, East Anglia, ca. 1310 253 83 Initial for seventh lection of matins, Hours of the Virgin, Cambrai Hours (formerly “Hours of Mahaut of Artois”), northern France, 1312–1315 255 84 Hawisa de Bois and family members, pictorial preface, De Bois Hours, England, 1325–1330 256 85 Family at Mass, Butler Hours, England, 1340–1350 258 86 Master of the Livre du Sacre de Charles V, Charles V at prayer, Petite Bible Historiale , Paris, 1362–1363 266 87 Charles V at prayer before Saint Anthony Abbot, Savoy Hours, Paris, 1370–1378 267 88 Jean and Bourgot Le Noir, Bonne ascends to the Throne of Mercy through prayer, Psalter-Hours of Bonne of Luxembourg, Paris, before 1349 271 89 Master of the Trinity, Jean de Berry at prayer with God the Creator, Petites Heures of Jean de Berry, Paris, ca. 1385–1390 273 90 Master of the Trinity, Jean de Berry at prayer with the Virgin and Child, Petites Heures of Jean de Berry, Paris, ca. 1385–1390 274 91 Jacquemart de Hesdin, Annunciation, matins, Hours of the Virgin, Petites Heures of Jean de Berry, Paris, ca. 1375–1380 275 92 Jacquemart de Hesdin or Andre Beauneveu, inserted frontispiece of Jean de Berry with patron saints and the Virgin, Brussels Hours (Tr è s Belles Heures ), Paris, ca. 1380 276

xii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

93 Limbourg Brothers, Jean de Berry at prayer, Belles Heures of Jean de Berry, Paris, ca. 1406–1409 278 94 Master of Margaret of Cleves, owner portrait, matins, Hours of the Virgin, Hours of Margaret of Cleves, Holland, 1395–1400 284 95 Limbourg brothers, Jeanne de Boulogne and the Trinity, Belles Heures of Jean de Berry, Paris, ca. 1406–1409 286

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This book has been many years in the making, and I could not have dreamed of writing it, much less fi nishing it, without the generosity and support of many institutions and individuals. Above all, I owe an immense debt of gratitude to my immediate family: Albert Wiebe, Barbara Bishop- Sand, Orrin Sand and Carolina Gutierrez, Richard and Tobey Wiebe, Karl Wiebe, and most of all Asher James and Annika Rose Wiebe, who have tolerated my frequent absences, my more frequent absentmindedness, and my writing-related mood swings. Two men who did not live to see the completion of this project also deserve mention. The fi rst is my mentor, Harvey Stahl, whose early death from ALS in 2002 was a terrible loss to the community of medieval art historians, to his family, and to me personally. Harvey was a kind man, but never soft on his students, and I know that had he lived, he would have prodded my work into shape at a much earlier date. As it was, without him I had at times the sensation of muddling about in the dark. The other man who deserves mention is my father, James Sand, for whom I blame my career trajectory – he steered me away from law and exposed me, early on, to the siren music of the past, reading aloud both fi ction and nonfi ction in a way that brought it alive and made it visible. He also enabled my fi rst art- historical research project, undertaken at the age of twelve, by driving me all over Seattle to photograph public art with my freshly acquired Pentax K-1000. As an inveterate talker, I am sure that I have discussed the project with many more friends and colleagues than I will be able to mention, but among those whose contributions were most substantial were Geoff Koziol, who read early drafts of various chapters; Adam Cohen, who read Chapter 2 and schooled me in Ottonian images of prayer and donation; and M. C. Gaposchkin, who somehow escaped reading any drafts, but with whom I chewed over many of the core ideas over the years. Recently, Laura

xiii

xiv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Gelfand has provided valuable feedback and cheered me on as the fi nish line came in view. Three anonymous readers for Cambridge University Press provided the grit I desperately needed to polish my argument and refi ne my prose, and to them I offer heartfelt gratitude. Beatrice Rehl, my editor at Cambridge, championed the project and waited patiently while I revised it, and her assistant Asya Graf was unfailingly helpful in guiding me through the process. I also thank Stanley Benfel, Paul Binski, Alice Chapman, Albrecht Classen, Daniel Connolly, Jennifer Duncan, Ilene Forsythe, Sarah Gordon, Adelaide Bennett Hagens, Jeffrey Hamburger, Christopher Hughes, Phebe Jensen, Danielle Johnson, Norman Jones, Christopher Kleinhenz, James Marrow, Rachel Middleman, Asa Mittmann, Kevin Muller, John Neely, Amy Neff, Judith Oliver, Viebeke Olsen, Christine Cooper Rompato, Mary and Richard Rouse, Nina Rowe, Lucy Freeman Sandler, Kathy Schockmel, Bob Shulman, Anne Rudloff Stanton, Patricia Stirnemann, Alison Stones, Christopher Terry, William Voelkle, David Wall, Roger Wieck, Diane Wolfthal, and many others for their support, words of kindness, input, and infl uence all along the way. My student research assistant, BrookeLynne Sanders, also deserves recognition for all her help and good humor. On an institutional level, I have been extraordinarily fortunate. Funding from the College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences; the Women and Gender Research Institute; the Caine College of the Arts; the Center for Women and Gender; the Offi ce of the Provost; and the Offi ce of the Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies at Utah State University has been critical to this project, supporting me at every stage from the initial research to the fi nal process of bringing the book to press. Most signifi cantly, Dean Craig Jessop of the Caine College of the Arts assembled the signifi cant subvention that made possible my ambitious program of illustration. Further grants from the American Association of University Women, the ACLS Charles Ryskamp Fellowship, and the Huntington Library Mellon Fellowship contributed signifi cantly to the work as well. Helpful librarians, curators, and staff of reproductions and photography departments at the Morgan Library, the New York Public Library Spencer Collection, the Huntington Library, the Bibliothè que National de France, the Bibliothè que de l’Arsenal, the Bibliothè que Mazarine, the Bibliothè que Sainte-Genevi è ve, the British Library, the Fitzwilliam Museum, the Cambridge University Libraries, the Bodleian Library, the Stiftsbibliothek Admont, the Bibliothè que Royale de Belgique, the Lambeth Palace Library, the Walters Art Gallery, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, among others, have played a part in producing the book. To my students, colleagues, and friends at Utah State, and the coterie of medievalist art historians with whom I gratefully reunite each spring in that great intellectual

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xv

pilgrimage known as the International Congress for Medieval Studies in Kalamazoo, Michigan, I owe the continued inspiration to research and teach the Middle Ages. Lastly, but most importantly, Albert, I dedicate this book to you for your unfl agging belief in me, your bottomless well of support, your patience with the process, and your willingness to sacrifi ce your time and even your career so that I could pursue this project. If a book is a labor of love, you are as much the author of this book as I am, with the one caveat that any errors, factual or otherwise, are of my own making, and should not refl ect on any of the people or institutions mentioned here. All translations from Latin and Old French are my own, unless otherwise noted, and I am responsible for any infelicities or mistakes therein.