An Arthurian Knight in Ivory and Ink

Manuscript Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS fr. 12577 and ivory casket Musée du Louvre, OA 122, and are two of three extant fourteenth-century visualizations of Chrétien’s Le Conte du Graal, produced in Paris circa 1310-1330. Although the objects’ shared era of production suggests similarities o...

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Main Author: Katherine Anne Rush
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universidad Complutense de Madrid 2021-02-01
Series:Eikón Imago
Subjects:
Online Access:https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/EIKO/article/view/74163
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author Katherine Anne Rush
author_facet Katherine Anne Rush
author_sort Katherine Anne Rush
collection DOAJ
description Manuscript Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS fr. 12577 and ivory casket Musée du Louvre, OA 122, and are two of three extant fourteenth-century visualizations of Chrétien’s Le Conte du Graal, produced in Paris circa 1310-1330. Although the objects’ shared era of production suggests similarities of iconography, artistic influences, and production methods, little research has been conducted regarding visual and cultural connections between MS fr. 12577 and OA 122. Through iconographic and stylistic analysis of the scenes each artisan depicted within his respective medium, I elucidate how the casket and manuscript’s imagery personifies Perceval’s dual nature, a young knight symbolic of the secular and sacred. As visualizations of Chrétien’s most religiously-minded legend, MS fr. 12577 and OA 122 exemplify the intertwining of the sacred and secular within fourteenth-century French romantic art, specifically within illuminated manuscripts and carved ivory, materials that through their refinement, rarity, and expense, signified leisure, luxury, and nobility. By examining these two opulent objects, I provide insights into their purpose and significance in late medieval France, especially cultural crossover between the porous realms of sacred and secular medieval life.
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spelling doaj.art-ce370b26a03e4f4e8e4858c2c482984f2022-12-21T19:58:41ZengUniversidad Complutense de MadridEikón Imago2254-87182021-02-011010.5209/eiko.74163An Arthurian Knight in Ivory and InkKatherine Anne RushManuscript Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS fr. 12577 and ivory casket Musée du Louvre, OA 122, and are two of three extant fourteenth-century visualizations of Chrétien’s Le Conte du Graal, produced in Paris circa 1310-1330. Although the objects’ shared era of production suggests similarities of iconography, artistic influences, and production methods, little research has been conducted regarding visual and cultural connections between MS fr. 12577 and OA 122. Through iconographic and stylistic analysis of the scenes each artisan depicted within his respective medium, I elucidate how the casket and manuscript’s imagery personifies Perceval’s dual nature, a young knight symbolic of the secular and sacred. As visualizations of Chrétien’s most religiously-minded legend, MS fr. 12577 and OA 122 exemplify the intertwining of the sacred and secular within fourteenth-century French romantic art, specifically within illuminated manuscripts and carved ivory, materials that through their refinement, rarity, and expense, signified leisure, luxury, and nobility. By examining these two opulent objects, I provide insights into their purpose and significance in late medieval France, especially cultural crossover between the porous realms of sacred and secular medieval life.https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/EIKO/article/view/74163MedievalFranceManuscriptsIlluminationIvoriesArthurian Legends
spellingShingle Katherine Anne Rush
An Arthurian Knight in Ivory and Ink
Eikón Imago
Medieval
France
Manuscripts
Illumination
Ivories
Arthurian Legends
title An Arthurian Knight in Ivory and Ink
title_full An Arthurian Knight in Ivory and Ink
title_fullStr An Arthurian Knight in Ivory and Ink
title_full_unstemmed An Arthurian Knight in Ivory and Ink
title_short An Arthurian Knight in Ivory and Ink
title_sort arthurian knight in ivory and ink
topic Medieval
France
Manuscripts
Illumination
Ivories
Arthurian Legends
url https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/EIKO/article/view/74163
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