A rabbit attempts to play a church organ, while a knight fights a giant snail and a naked man blows a trumpet with his rear end. Painted with squirrel-hair brushes on vellum or parchment by monks, nuns, and urban craftspeople, these bizarre images populate the margins of the most prized books from the Middle Ages.
一隻兔子在嘗試彈奏教堂的管風琴, 同時一名騎士在對抗 一隻巨型蝸牛, 還有一個赤裸的人 在用他的屁股吹喇叭。 用松鼠毛的畫筆繪製在 羊皮紙或仿羊皮紙上, 作者包括僧侶、修女,及都市工匠, 這些怪異的圖像滿佈在中世紀 最有價值的書籍的空白處。
Their illustrations often tell a second story as rich as the text itself. Some images appear in many different illuminated manuscripts, and often reinforce the religious content of the books they decorated. For example, a porcupine picking up fruit on its spines could represent the devil stealing the fruits of faith-- or Christ taking up the sins of mankind. Medieval lore stated that a hunter could only capture a unicorn when it lay its horn in the lap of a virgin, so a unicorn could symbolize either sexual temptation or Christ being captured by his enemies. Rabbits, meanwhile, could represent human’s lustful natures— and could redeem themselves through attempts to make sacred music despite their failings.
這些插圖通常訴說著第二個故事, 且豐富程度不輸給正文。 在許多不同的裝飾手稿上 都可以看到這類圖像, 這些圖像強化了它們 所裝飾的書籍的宗教內容。 比如,一隻豪豬拔起牠刺上的水果, 可能代表著魔鬼偷走了信仰的果實, 或是基督扛起人類的原罪。 中世紀的傳說指出, 獵人只能夠在獨角獸 把牠的角放在處女的膝上時, 才能夠去捕捉牠, 所以,獨角獸可能象徵著性誘惑 或是基督被他的敵人捕捉。 而兔子則可以代表 人類的好色天性—— 儘管牠們有缺點,仍然可以 透過嘗試製作神聖音樂的方式 來為自己贖罪。
All of these references would have been familiar to medieval Europeans from other art forms and oral tradition, though some have grown more mysterious over the centuries. Today, no one can say for sure what the common motif of a knight fighting a snail means— or why the knight so often appears to be losing. The snail might be a symbol of the inevitability of death, which defeats even the strongest knights. Or it could represent humility, and a knight’s need to vanquish his own pride.
中世紀歐洲人會很熟悉 所有上述這些例子, 在藝術形式及口述傳統中會提及到, 不過,經過數世紀之後, 有些變得更神秘了。 現今,沒有人能肯定 騎士對抗蝸牛的 這種常見圖案代表什麼—— 或者為什麼騎士通常 都是戰敗的一方。 蝸牛可能是象徵無可避免的死亡, 死亡能夠打敗最強壯的騎士。 或者,它有可能代表人性, 及騎士必需要克服他自身的驕傲。
Many illuminated manuscripts were copies of religious or classical texts, and the bookmakers incorporated their own ideas and opinions in illustrations. The butt tuba, for example, was likely shorthand to express disapproval with-- or add an ironic spin to-- the action in the text.
許多裝飾手稿都是 宗教或古典文本的複本, 而製書者將他們自己的想法 和意見融入到插圖中。 比如,屁股大號有可能是 代表不贊成的簡略表達方式, 或是將諷刺的詮釋添加到文中。
Illuminations could also be used to make subversive political commentary. The text of the "Smithfield Decretals" details the Church’s laws and punishments for lawbreakers. But the margins show a fox being hanged by geese, a possible allusion to the common people turning on their powerful oppressors. In the "Chronica Majora," Matthew Paris summarized a scandal of his day, in which the Welsh prince Griffin plummeted to his death from the tower of London. Some believed the prince fell, Paris wrote, while others thought he was pushed. He added his own take in the margins, which show the prince falling to his death while trying to escape on a rope made of bed-sheets.
裝飾圖案也可以用來 做破壞性的政治評論。 《史密斯菲爾德教令》的內文 詳細描述教堂的法律 以及對違法者的懲罰。 但在空白處畫了 一隻狐狸被鵝吊起來, 這可能是在暗示一般人 反抗他們的強大壓迫者。 在《英國編年史》中, 馬修派瑞斯概述了 他那個年代的一件醜聞, 在醜聞中,威爾斯王子葛里芬 從倫敦的高塔上落下身亡。 派瑞斯寫道,有些人 相信王子是跌落, 其他人則認為他是被推下去的。 他在空白處加上了他自己的想法, 他認為王子之所以會摔死, 是因為他試圖要用 床單做成的繩子逃脫。
Some margins told stories of a more personal nature. "The Luttrell Psalter," a book of psalms and prayers commissioned by Sir Geoffrey Luttrell, shows a young woman having her hair done, while a young man catches a bird in a net. The shaved patch on his head is growing out, indicating that he is a clergyman neglecting his duties. This alludes to a family scandal where a young cleric ran away with Sir Geoffrey’s daughter Elizabeth. The family’s personal spiritual advisor likely painted it into the book to remind his clients of their failings and encourage their spiritual development.
有些空白處講述 本質上更個人化的故事。 《魯特瑞爾詩篇》是 一本讚美詩和祈禱文的書, 由傑佛瑞呂特雷爾爵士委託製作, 書中有一位年輕女子去做頭髮, 同時有一位年輕人 用網子抓了一隻鳥。 他剃掉的頭髮已經長出來了, 顯示他是個疏忽職責的神職人員。 這是在暗示一件家庭醜聞, 一位年輕的神職人員 和傑佛瑞爵士的女兒伊麗莎白私奔。 書中的這個圖很有可能是由 該家庭的私人宗教顧問畫的, 以提醒他的客戶 不要忘記自己的缺點, 並鼓勵他們做靈性上的發展。
Some artists even painted themselves into the manuscripts. The opening image of Christine de Pisan’s collected works shows de Pisan presenting the book to the Queen of France. The queen was so impressed by de Pisan's previous work that she commissioned her own copy. Such royal patronage enabled her to establish her own publishing house in Paris.
有些藝術家甚至 把自己畫到手稿當中。 在克里斯蒂娜德皮桑的 作品合輯中,最開頭的圖像 顯示德皮桑將書上呈給法國女王。 德皮桑先前的作品讓女王印象深刻, 所以女王委託創作她自己的複本。 有這種皇家的贊助, 讓她得以在巴黎建立 她自己的出版社。
The tradition of illuminated manuscripts lasted for over a thousand years. The books were created by individuals or teams for uses as wide-ranging as private prayer aids, service books in churches, textbooks, and protective talismans to take into battle. Across all this variation, those tricky little drawings in the margins are a unique window into the minds of medieval artists.
裝飾手稿的傳統持續了至少一千年。 這些書籍有的是個人創作, 有的是團隊創作,用途廣泛, 包括私人祈禱的輔助、 教堂的祈禱書、課本, 以及帶到戰爭中的護身符。 這些在空白處的微妙小插圖 可說是千變萬化, 是讓我們了解中世紀藝術家 想法的獨特窗口。