Ornamentality, colour and exegesis in English bestiaries: form and function

• Grant number: 13/22805-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Master's degree
• Start date: February 03, 2014
• End date: July 02, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - History - Ancient and Medieval History
• Principal Investigator: Maria Cristina Correia Leandro Pereira
• Grantee: Muriel Araujo Lima Garcia
• Supervisor: John Lowden
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Courtauld Institute of Art, England
• Associated to the scholarship: 12/12588-0 - Figurative systems in 12th and 13th century English bestiaries, BP.MS

Abstract

English bestiaries, written in Latin and produced between the 12th and 14th centuries, are richly illustrated manuscripts. However, there are few studies dedicated exclusively to their miniatures and as a result an important part of these sources - the images - is not given due attention and their role(s) in the manuscripts are still not completely clear. It has been suggested that bestiaries' images were used as a didactic tool or as a mnemonic device, but the fact that the miniatures usually do not reference the moralisations and exegeses found in the text has been overlooked and therefore some questions remain unanswered, such as what role do they play in the manuscripts and the making of meaning? We aim to investigate these questions by analysing their iconography and chromatic and ornamental features, as well as their connection with the textual moralisations and exegeses. By cross-referencing the data compiled we will be able to ascertain whether there are patterns or not, and to what extent form and function go together - that is, what is the relationship between text and image in bestiaries. This research will benefit from a different scholarly environment in a worldly renowned institution and access to bibliography that cannot be found in Brazil. The fact that the Courtauld Institute of Art is located in London and therefore only 80 kilometres of Oxford also provides the opportunity for first-hand research on the bestiaries housed in the Bodleian Library, which is of fundamental importance when dealing with elements such as colour (as they are extremely hard to be accurately reproduced in facsimiles and digitised versions of the manuscripts). (AU)