The rhetoric of images: memory and ornamentation in Oxford, st. John's college MS 61

• Grant number: 17/18864-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: May 07, 2018
• End date: November 06, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - History - Ancient and Medieval History
• Principal Investigator: Maria Cristina Correia Leandro Pereira
• Grantee: Muriel Araujo Lima Garcia
• Supervisor: Catherine Elizabeth Karkov
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of Leeds, England
• Associated to the scholarship: 16/18434-5 - Omnibus Animantibus: the logic(s) of image(s) in Oxford, st. John's college MS 61, BP.DR

Abstract

Bestiaries written in Latin, produced in England 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. Oxford, St. John's College MS.61 is a luxury bestiary produced around 1210-30 in the city of York in England and contains ninety-six miniatures distributed in a hundred and three folios. It is one of only two bestiaries to have survived with an original ex-libris inscription. Bearing in mind that 'memory' in the Middle Ages was not considered to be a simple passive recollection of past events but rather an active compositional practice based on the principles of classical rhetoric, we aim to investigate to what extent the images in Oxford, St. Johns' College MS 61 can create meaning themselves. It is important to notice that the ornamentation of images in medieval times was not considered to be a mere embellishment but rather an essential dimension of a book's figurative program, and one designed to grab the reader's attention and guide the cognitive process. As it is, in this study we will investigate the ways in which bestiary images, with their ornaments and patters, can serve a rhetorical purpose within the book. The examination of the images' ornamental features can shed light on the miniatures' role in the manuscript, the functions they perform and how they contribute to the making of meaning. (AU)