On June 29, 1906, in German occupied France, a young woman named Clothilde Coulaux completed the ... more On June 29, 1906, in German occupied France, a young woman named Clothilde Coulaux completed the colophon of her book. Her masterpiece, newly acquired by the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, is a small Missal composed of 176 pages, each richly illuminated in watercolor. Clothilde created a whimsical medieval world full of sacred images, music, feasting, courtship, child rearing, local architecture, and warfare. While her art reveals a careful study of medieval manuscripts, liturgical objects, and prints by Albrecht Durer, much of the imagery is uniquely her own, and plays intriguingly around the edges of an otherwise traditional text. The pages of Clothilde’s book teem with joyous and even humorous visions of medieval life and civic pride. However, the rosy, dream-like world Clothilde’s medieval figures inhabit was far from her reality. Her family’s arms business and reputation had crumbled due to the Franco-Prussian War, and her region of Alsace was under an uneasy peace rife with tension. In this paper, I argue that as she witnessed decline all around her, Clothilde’s book provided comfort and escape, a heartfelt homage to her home, family, and the way things had once been. Yet a sense of reality permeates that world, standing in sharp and jarring contrast to the warmth of the images, as the jagged and menacing eagles of the Prussians and Habsburgs periodically intrude upon the peaceful scenes.
In 2012, the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore purchased a remarkable manuscript begun in 1614 by J... more In 2012, the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore purchased a remarkable manuscript begun in 1614 by Joannes Carolus Erlenwein. Joannes and his classmates in the Fulda seminary school, all teenage sons of German aristocrats, composed a Liber Amicorum, or friendship book, during their student years. The book’s creation was itself a game: friends one-upped each other through impressive family crests, heartfelt Latin inscriptions, and charming images. Through images, Joannes became the hero of his own story as he and his friends jousted, played tennis, hunted, and rescued damsels in distress. Their choice to convey their strong emotional bond through these images is extraordinary. Yet as boys on the cusp of manhood, they juxtaposed light-hearted joys of youth with images of war and quests for honor, which resonate with prints of the Trojan War interleaved throughout.
This article explores games from two angles: the Liber Amicorum itself as a game of status, character building, and aspirations, as well as games depicted within this context. Why are they there, and how to interpret them? Do these representations suggest real experiences, or metaphors? Never before researched, this book is ready to come out and play!
ABSTRACT
The city of Poitiers houses a highly important manuscript, the 8th-century Carolingian ... more ABSTRACT
The city of Poitiers houses a highly important manuscript, the 8th-century Carolingian Gospels of Sainte-Croix,
which contains a unique and little understood Maiestas Domini image. This paper will demonstrate it is in fact a
tour de force of visual exegesis, employing complex layers of text and imagery which repeatedly deceive the eye
and prompt ever deepening theological readings of the image, thereby complicating any simple interpretation the
eyes initially perceive. The manuscript’s user, identified here as one of Charlemagne’s head bishops, responded to
the image through devotional touch, a physical act that would have greatly amplified the intensity of the experience.
On June 29, 1906, in German occupied France, a young woman named Clothilde Coulaux completed the ... more On June 29, 1906, in German occupied France, a young woman named Clothilde Coulaux completed the colophon of her book. Her masterpiece, newly acquired by the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, is a small Missal composed of 176 pages, each richly illuminated in watercolor. Clothilde created a whimsical medieval world full of sacred images, music, feasting, courtship, child rearing, local architecture, and warfare. While her art reveals a careful study of medieval manuscripts, liturgical objects, and prints by Albrecht Durer, much of the imagery is uniquely her own, and plays intriguingly around the edges of an otherwise traditional text. The pages of Clothilde’s book teem with joyous and even humorous visions of medieval life and civic pride. However, the rosy, dream-like world Clothilde’s medieval figures inhabit was far from her reality. Her family’s arms business and reputation had crumbled due to the Franco-Prussian War, and her region of Alsace was under an uneasy peace rife with tension. In this paper, I argue that as she witnessed decline all around her, Clothilde’s book provided comfort and escape, a heartfelt homage to her home, family, and the way things had once been. Yet a sense of reality permeates that world, standing in sharp and jarring contrast to the warmth of the images, as the jagged and menacing eagles of the Prussians and Habsburgs periodically intrude upon the peaceful scenes.
In 2012, the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore purchased a remarkable manuscript begun in 1614 by J... more In 2012, the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore purchased a remarkable manuscript begun in 1614 by Joannes Carolus Erlenwein. Joannes and his classmates in the Fulda seminary school, all teenage sons of German aristocrats, composed a Liber Amicorum, or friendship book, during their student years. The book’s creation was itself a game: friends one-upped each other through impressive family crests, heartfelt Latin inscriptions, and charming images. Through images, Joannes became the hero of his own story as he and his friends jousted, played tennis, hunted, and rescued damsels in distress. Their choice to convey their strong emotional bond through these images is extraordinary. Yet as boys on the cusp of manhood, they juxtaposed light-hearted joys of youth with images of war and quests for honor, which resonate with prints of the Trojan War interleaved throughout.
This article explores games from two angles: the Liber Amicorum itself as a game of status, character building, and aspirations, as well as games depicted within this context. Why are they there, and how to interpret them? Do these representations suggest real experiences, or metaphors? Never before researched, this book is ready to come out and play!
ABSTRACT
The city of Poitiers houses a highly important manuscript, the 8th-century Carolingian ... more ABSTRACT
The city of Poitiers houses a highly important manuscript, the 8th-century Carolingian Gospels of Sainte-Croix,
which contains a unique and little understood Maiestas Domini image. This paper will demonstrate it is in fact a
tour de force of visual exegesis, employing complex layers of text and imagery which repeatedly deceive the eye
and prompt ever deepening theological readings of the image, thereby complicating any simple interpretation the
eyes initially perceive. The manuscript’s user, identified here as one of Charlemagne’s head bishops, responded to
the image through devotional touch, a physical act that would have greatly amplified the intensity of the experience.
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Papers by Lynley Herbert
The pages of Clothilde’s book teem with joyous and even humorous visions of medieval life and civic pride. However, the rosy, dream-like world Clothilde’s medieval figures inhabit was far from her reality. Her family’s arms business and reputation had crumbled due to the Franco-Prussian War, and her region of Alsace was under an uneasy peace rife with tension. In this paper, I argue that as she witnessed decline all around her, Clothilde’s book provided comfort and escape, a heartfelt homage to her home, family, and the way things had once been. Yet a sense of reality permeates that world, standing in sharp and jarring contrast to the warmth of the images, as the jagged and menacing eagles of the Prussians and Habsburgs periodically intrude upon the peaceful scenes.
This article explores games from two angles: the Liber Amicorum itself as a game of status, character building, and aspirations, as well as games depicted within this context. Why are they there, and how to interpret them? Do these representations suggest real experiences, or metaphors? Never before researched, this book is ready to come out and play!
The city of Poitiers houses a highly important manuscript, the 8th-century Carolingian Gospels of Sainte-Croix,
which contains a unique and little understood Maiestas Domini image. This paper will demonstrate it is in fact a
tour de force of visual exegesis, employing complex layers of text and imagery which repeatedly deceive the eye
and prompt ever deepening theological readings of the image, thereby complicating any simple interpretation the
eyes initially perceive. The manuscript’s user, identified here as one of Charlemagne’s head bishops, responded to
the image through devotional touch, a physical act that would have greatly amplified the intensity of the experience.
The pages of Clothilde’s book teem with joyous and even humorous visions of medieval life and civic pride. However, the rosy, dream-like world Clothilde’s medieval figures inhabit was far from her reality. Her family’s arms business and reputation had crumbled due to the Franco-Prussian War, and her region of Alsace was under an uneasy peace rife with tension. In this paper, I argue that as she witnessed decline all around her, Clothilde’s book provided comfort and escape, a heartfelt homage to her home, family, and the way things had once been. Yet a sense of reality permeates that world, standing in sharp and jarring contrast to the warmth of the images, as the jagged and menacing eagles of the Prussians and Habsburgs periodically intrude upon the peaceful scenes.
This article explores games from two angles: the Liber Amicorum itself as a game of status, character building, and aspirations, as well as games depicted within this context. Why are they there, and how to interpret them? Do these representations suggest real experiences, or metaphors? Never before researched, this book is ready to come out and play!
The city of Poitiers houses a highly important manuscript, the 8th-century Carolingian Gospels of Sainte-Croix,
which contains a unique and little understood Maiestas Domini image. This paper will demonstrate it is in fact a
tour de force of visual exegesis, employing complex layers of text and imagery which repeatedly deceive the eye
and prompt ever deepening theological readings of the image, thereby complicating any simple interpretation the
eyes initially perceive. The manuscript’s user, identified here as one of Charlemagne’s head bishops, responded to
the image through devotional touch, a physical act that would have greatly amplified the intensity of the experience.