This Thesis Has Been Submitted in Fulfilment of the Requirements for a Postgraduate Degree (E.G. Phd, Mphil, Dclinpsychol) at the University of Edinburgh
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
This thesis has been submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for a postgraduate degree (e.g. PhD, MPhil, DClinPsychol) at the University of Edinburgh. Please note the following terms and conditions of use: This work is protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights, which are retained by the thesis author, unless otherwise stated. A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author. When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. Imaging Dreams in the Middle Ages: The Roman de la Rose and Artistic Vision, c.1275-1540 Jennifer Owen Volume I History of Art Ph.D. The University of Edinburgh 2016 Abstract This thesis constitutes an investigation into the depiction of dreams in imagery accompanying the late-medieval manuscripts and printed editions of the Roman de la Rose. It reflects on the changing approaches to depicting dreams during the 250 years of the Rose’s popularity in central France, as well as discussing the historical theoretical understanding of the concept of dreams, and its expression in a specific Rose context. It examines the representation of dreams in a number of Rose manuscripts – in particular their prominent dreamer incipits – alongside other relevant miniatures of both a secular and religious nature. Furthermore, the alteration of trends for depicting the dream space in Rose manuscripts during the fifteenth century are also considered, as well as a case- study of the luxurious Valencia manuscript, which contains a variety of dream subjects. This is followed by a discussion of the methodology of manuscript production in the medieval period, gleaned from a number of extant Roses. This chapter underscores the important role played by artistic originality and intention in the processes of manuscript making – addressing the ‘artistic vision’ indicated in the title of this thesis. An outline of the printed editions of the Rose and their resurrection of earlier tropes of dream depiction is also included. Finally, the appendix contains a Catalogue of the Rose manuscripts studied in preparation for and throughout the production of the thesis. Contents Volume I: Introduction p.1 Chapter One: Theoretical, Literary and Artistic Medieval Dreams p.17 I: The Attitudes of Antiquity: Pagan Authorities on the Dream II: Late Antiquity: The Transitional Neoplatonists III: The Biblical Position: Old and New Testament; Apocrypha; Early Christian IV: Dreambooks V: Later Medieval Attitudes VI: The Literary and Poetic Dream VII: The Roman de la Rose VIII: Literary Successors to the Rose IX: Postscript: Attitudes of the Present Day X: Reconceptualising the Rose: The Importance of Dream Theory XI: The Historical Artistic Representation of Dreams Chapter Two: Representing Dreams in the Roman de la Rose and its p.77 Contemporaries in the Fifteenth Century: I: Prominent Dreamers: The Rose Incipits A: The First Dreamers: Urb. Lat. 376 and the Development of the Dream topos B: Replacing ‘Author’ with ‘Dreamer’ C: Quadripartite Incipits and the Extension of the Dream D: Croesus and Phanie II: The Brussels-Lyon Family: Evolution of the Visual Dream III: Nature’s Discussion of Dreams and its Prominent Visual Omission Chapter Three: Representing Dreams in the Roman de la Rose and its p.119 Contemporaries in the Fifteenth Century: I: Continuity and Development of the Dream II: Dreams in the Valencia Manuscript A: The Multiscenic Incipit B: The Dream of Socrates C: Croesus and Phanie D: The Waking Dreamer III: Erroneous Perspective IV: Resurgence of Authority? Rejection of the Dream Topos Chapter Four: Production Methods from Complete and Incomplete Roses p.150 I: The Initial Stage: Scribes, Rubricators and the Implications of Gaps in Manuscripts in the First Decades of Rose Production II: Scribes, Rubricators and the Implications of Gaps in Manuscripts During the Later Fourteenth Century III: The Second Stage: The Illuminator’s Tasks During the First Decades of Rose Production IV: Alternative Planning Methods in the First Decades of Rose Production V: Multiple Methodologies, and an Unfinished Copy: The Late Fourteenth and Early Fifteenth Centuries VI: Artists for Hire, c.1325-50: The Lyon-Brussels Group and their Extended Family VII: Atypical Illumination Cycles of the Fourteenth Century and Beyond VIII: Continuity of Process in the Fifteenth Century Chapter Five: Dreams in the Printed Editions, c.1481-1530 p.196 Conclusion p.218 Bibliography p.231 Volume II: Appendix: Catalogue of Roman de la Rose Manuscripts and Incunables p.247 Consulted in this Study List of Illustrations p.352 Images p.356 Introduction Dream narrative, encyclopaedia, love quest, or amatory handbook: the Roman de la Rose was once the epitome of medieval French literature. The narrative focuses on the retelling of a dream-quest and survives in over 300 complete and fragmentary manuscript copies, as well as around 20 printed incunabula editions, produced between the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries. The sheer size of the corpus alone therefore makes it worthy of study for any scholar interested in the representation and development of dream imagery during the Middle Ages. Yet it is not simply the vast quantity of these manuscripts that makes them ideal for investigation, but the flexibility, innovation and variation that characterises the group. Written during the thirteenth century, amid the expansion of vernacular literature in central Europe, it quickly became a best-seller.1 Image cycles appear in a large proportion of the manuscripts; around two-thirds of the surviving copies contain some form of figurative visual imagery, from single historiated initials to illuminated series featuring over 100 vignettes. The printed editions, both on paper and vellum, also featured woodcut accompaniments which were often coloured or illuminated by hand after printing. One of the most interesting factors of the Rose is that it has been subject to scholarly discussion and criticism from a very early stage. For this reason, a review of the relevant literature must also incorporate near-contemporary works, including the 1 Ernest Langlois, Origines et Sources du Roman de la Rose (Paris: Ernest Thorin, 1891), v; Felix Lecoy, ed., Le Roman de la Rose (Paris: Honoré Champion, 1965); Heather Arden, The Romance of the Rose (Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1987), 1-19. The dates of completion are typically accepted as c.1225-40 for Guillaume de Lorris’ section, and c.1270-75 for Jean’s substantial conclusion. Langlois originally suggested c.1225-40 and c.1275-80, while Lecoy revises these to c.1225-30 and c.1269-78. As Heather Arden points out, however, the only definitive termination date for the whole poem is 1305, the year Jean de Meun died (1987), 1. The use of the term ‘best-seller’ requires some contextualisation; comparatively speaking, the Rose exists in far greater numbers than contemporary vernacular narratives. Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, a story often described as a medieval ‘blockbuster’, survives in only 83 complete or partial manuscripts. A more pertinent comparison may be made with the Old French Lancelot-Grail Cycle, which according to Alison Stones appears in around 175 manuscripts (cf. Stones et al., The Lancelot- Graal Project, last modified 2009, http://www.lancelot-project.pitt.edu/lancelot-project.html). Certainly, it does not match the overwhelming popularity of Books of Hours, which survive in many hundreds of copies; though as this was a practical, devotional text, it cannot be exactly compared with a vernacular romance narrative. However, it clearly had a considerable presence in the thirteenth to sixteenth-century book market, and I believe fully merits the term ‘best- seller’. 1 documents of the Querelle de la Rose, which occurred in the early fifteenth century. These have been made accessible primarily through Hicks, who reproduced the extant letters and treatises in Modern French.2 Additional work on this subject has been done by McWebb et al, in a volume that provides further context for the Querelle documents, illuminating the occasionally combative positions of the major participants, their forebears and successors, as well as providing English translations of the documents.3 Badel also provides a very useful overview of the reception of the Rose in the fourteenth-century, drawing attention to the ways in which it was transmitted and used as inspiration for a variety of works.4 Other studies have also stressed the poem’s reliance on earlier vernacular and Latin textual models, as well as an awareness of the poem’s novelty.5 The scholarly and authorial discussion of the Rose however tailed off during the sixteenth century, as the poem ceased production in both manuscript and printed editions. After this, the next major consideration of the poem was during the eighteenth century, when new editions appeared. However, this interest was largely concerned with recapturing an authorial or authentic copy of the poem, reconstructing Guillaume and Jean’s original ‘intention’ through consultation with several copies, or recovering a single manuscript’s version of the text. It was Langlois’ seminal study in the early twentieth century that marked a return to scholarly investigations into the Rose and its manuscript corpus.6 Notably, however, Langlois’ edition of the poem and analysis of the language is accompanied by a rather subjective catalogue of the manuscripts, meaning while it currently stands as the most complete study of the manuscript corpus, it also lacks comprehensive treatment of the imaged copies of the Rose, being sporadic at best, and misleading at worst.7 Just some of Langlois’ variable ‘terminology’ used to describe the miniatures present in the manuscripts include: ‘sans intérêt’ (BnF fr.