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The rhythms of evil in the 14th century English Psalter
https://doi.org/10.28995/2686-7249-2023-4-29-54
Abstract
In medieval iconography, one of the main properties of evil is its multiplicity and changeability. As we know from the works on medieval demonology published by Alexander Makhov, such fluidity of forms was often equated with disorder and contrasted with an orderly hierarchy of the sacred. The author demonstrates that this applied not only to demons, but also to figures of non-Christians, primarily Jews and Romans in scenes of the Passion of Christ. The author of the present article takes the case of the Fitzwarin Psalter, one of the most extraordinary manuscripts illuminated in England in the 14th century. He shows that the variations of forms and colors in the figures of demonized enemies of Christ were sometimes organized in the rhythmic sequences which gave disorder a partial ordering. However, even in images of saints, in which symmetry and hierarchy dominated for a long time, variations were constantly introduced. They complicated (made more “live”) the static composition and led the viewer’s gaze. These observations suggest that many of the transformations of markers of otherness that researchers have long noted should be seen not only as visual figures of evil, but also as particular instances of the desire for varietas characteristic of medieval aesthetics in general.
About the Author
M. R. MaizulsRussian Federation
Mikhail R. Maizuls
bld. 6, Miusskaya Sq., Moscow, 125047
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Supplementary files
For citation: Maizuls M.R. The rhythms of evil in the 14th century English Psalter RSUH/RGGU Bulletin: “Literary Teory. Linguistics. Cultural Studies”, Series. 2023;(4):29-54. https://doi.org/10.28995/2686-7249-2023-4-29-54
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