The apocryphal infancy of Christ as depicted on the fourteenth-century Tring Tiles Item Type text; Thesis-Reproduction (electronic) Authors Casey, Mary Frances, 1937- Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 29/09/2021 06:02:04 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/278524 INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. 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Contact UMI directly to order. UMI A Bell & Howell Information Company 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor MI 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 THE APOCRYPHAL INFANCY OF CHRIST AS DEPICTED ON THE FOURTEENTH-CENTURY TRING TILES by Mary Frances Casey Copyright © Mary Frances Casey 1995 A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF ART HISTORY In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 19 9 5 UMI Number: 1378294 Copyright 1995 by- Casey, Mary Frances All rights reserved. UMI Microform 1378294 Copyright 1996, by UMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 2 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This thesis has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at the University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this thesis are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the copyright holder. SIGNEDi//i I APPROVAL BY THESIS DIRECTOR This thesis has been approved on the date shown below: )/ IL Jane Welch Williams Date Associate Professor of Art History 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank and express my gratitude to Dr. Jane Welch Williams. Her vast knowledge of the art of the Middle Ages, coupled with her excellent teaching abilities, has been a major inspiration for this work. Her guidance and insight has been invaluable in the researching and writing of this thesis. Warm thanks and appreciation also goes to my graduate committee, Dr.Pia Cuneo and Dr. Julie Plax, as well as to Dr. Alan Bernstein. Truly invaluable has been the assistance and insight into the Middle Ages provided by Laura Hollingreen, Ph.D candidate. Thanks also to Dr. Jonathan Beck for his assistance in manuscript translation and interpretation. This thesis would not have been as complete without the generous help given by Beverly Nenke of the Department of Medieval and Later Antiquities at the British Museum during my month of research there. In addition, I want to give special thanks as well to Dr. Robin Hilliard at the Victoria and Albert Museum. I am also grateful for the help extended to me by Dr. Martin Kauffmann, and the staff at the Bodliean Library, including Maureen Pendleton of the Iconographic Index Department. My site visit to the Tring Parish Church was greatly enriched by the generous assistance given by the vicar, by Canon Harry Hill and the knowledgeable volunteers at the church. Much gratitude and thanks is due my husband, Dr. Bob Casey for his endless support while I researched and wrote this thesis and throughout the degree process. Thanks also go to my children, Rob Casey, Dana Harper and Chris Harper for their unstinting patience and forbearance. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 5 ABSTRACT 7 I. INTRODUCTION 8 II. DESCRIPTION OF THE TRING TILE SCENES 12 III. TECHNICAL ASPECTS OF THE TRING TILES 21 IV. HISTORY OF THE TRING TILES 26 V. LOCATION OF THE TRING TILES WITHIN TRING PARISH CHURCH 30 VI. APOCRYPHAL LITERATURE AND THE SOURCES FOR THE TRING TILES 38 A. THE APOCRYPHAL LITERATURE AND SOURCES FOR THE TRING TILES 38 B. SOUCES 42 VII. JESUS AND HIS COMPASS 50 VIII. THE JUDGMENT OF DEATH 59 IX. ENGLISH ANTI-SEMITISM 72 X. JESUS CONFRONTS THE APOCRYPHAL PARENTS AND MASTERS 86 XI. THE WEDDING FEAST OF ARCHETECLIN 98 XII. CONCLUSION 102 XIII. ILLUSTRATIONS 109 XIV. REFERENCES 113 5 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure 1, Tring Tiles: TT-1A, TT-2A, TT-1B, TT-2B, V&A-1A, V&A-1B BM Fragment -1 115 TT-3A, TT-3B, TT-4A, TT-4B, TT-5A, TT-5B 116 V&A-2A, V&A-2B, TT-6A, TT-6B, TT-7A, TT-7B 117 TT-8, BM Drawing of Lost Fragment-2, V&A Fragment-3, V&A Frgment-4, (Selden Supra, Magi, not shown) 118 Figure 2, Exterior, Tring Parish Church See: Trincr. A Short Guilde to the Parish Church, Frontispiece. Figure 3, Interior, Tring Church, c. 1995 See: Tring Church Heritage, 6. Figure 4, Interior, With Rood Screen, c. 1889-1987 See: Tring. A Short Guide to the Parish Church, 4 Figure 5, Interior, c. 1865....See: Tring. A Short Guide to the Parish Church, 11 Figure 6, Interior Peakirk Church See: E.C. Rouse, Medieval Wall Paintings, 36 Figure 7, Eadwi Gospels See: J. B. Friedman, "The Architect's Compass", Fig. I Figure 8, Bible Moralisee, Vienna 1179, fol. 1 See: Ibid., Fig. VI Figure 9, Bible Moralisee, Bodleian 270b, fol.l See: Ibid., Fig. V. Figure 10, Bible Moralisee, Vienna 2554, fol.l See: Ibid., Fig. VI. Figure 11, Queen Mary Psalter, fol.l See: L.C. Sandler, Gothic Manuscripts, no.56 Figure 12, Holkham Bible Picture Book, fol. 2 See: Ibid., no.97 Figure 13, Hortus Deliciarum, fol.3v See: Straub and Keller, Hortus Deliciarum, pi.2 Figure 14, Liber Vitae of Newminster, BM Stow 944 (no reference). Figure 15, Chancel Arch, St. Thomas' Church, Salisbury..See: E.C. Rouse, Medieval Wall Paintings, no.66 6 Figure 16, Wall Painting, Church at Chaldon, Surry See: A.Caiger-Smith,English Medieval Mural Paintings, pi.12 Figure 17, Fall of the Egyptian Idols, Meditations on the Life of Christ, Paris, BN Ms Ital. 115 See: Ragusa and Green, Meditations, no. 59 Figure 18, Fall of Rebel Angels, Paris BN de 1'Arsenal 1186 See: M. Camille, The Gothic Idol, no.28 Figure 19, Fall of the Idols, Psalter, Private Collection... See: Ibid. no. 2 9 Figure 20, Fall of the Idols, Selden Supra 38, fol.8r (Selden Supra images available only from manuscript in the Bodliean Library) Figure 21, King kneels Before Jesus, Selden Supra, fol.8v Figure 22, Dead Boy, Selden Supra 38, fol.9r (right) Figure 23, Dead Boy, Tring Tile-lA 115 Figure 24, Holkham Bible Picture Book, fol. 27v See: C.M. Kauffman, "Art and Popular Culture," Fig. 3 Figure 25, Synagogue, Lincoln Cathedral (no reference) Figure 26, Aaron fil'Diaboli.... See: C. Roth, Essays and Portraits, Fig.7 Figure 27, Caricature of Issac of Norwich See: Ibid., Fig. 5 7 ABSTRACT The ten rectangular red clay tiles which comprise the collection known as the "Tring Tiles" depict stories from the apocryphal Infancy of Christ Gospels and are dated to before the second century. The eight tiles held at the British Museum and the two tiles and fragments at the Victoria and Albert Museum are believed to be the remains of a longer series which were mounted as a wall frieze in Tring Parish Church. The images on the tiles portray Jesus, from ages three to eight, performing miracles of killing and revival, trickery, and acts of charity. The final tile depicts a wedding feast similar to the feast at Cana. Explanation for the placement of these tiles, produced with a rare technique and containing unusual portrayals of Jesus, in a parish church, is dependent upon the examination and interpretation of religious and social perspectives in early fourteenth-century England. 8 I. INTRODUCTION The Tring Tiles exist as a solitary example of English Gothic art produced for public viewing which depict stories from the apocryphal Gospels of the Infancy of Christ. In the loosely connected episodes, Jesus, from the ages of four to eight years, performs miracles to kill and revive his antagonists, as well as miracles of healing and charity.Fig'1 The origin and history of the ten rectangular red clay tiles are shrouded in the mystery of evidence lost to time.