Text and image in "Le Mortifiement de Vaine Plaisance" and "Le Livre du Cuer d’Amours Espris" by Rene d’Anjou: Toward a semiotics of medieval manuscript illumination

325 Pages·1994·12.78 MB·English

by  Shira Ilana Schwam-Baird

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Text and image in Le Mortifiement de Vaint Platsance and Le Livre
du Cuer d’Amours Espris by Rend d’Anjou: Toward a semiotics of
medieval manuscript illumination
Schwam-Baird, Shira liana, Ph.D.
Tulane University, 1994
Copyright ©1994 by Schwam-Baird, Shira Bana. All rights reserved.
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TEXT AND IMAGE IN LE MORTIFIEMENT DE VAINE PLAISANCE
AND LE LIVRE DU CUER D’AMOURS ESPRIS BY RENE D’ANJOU:
TOWARD A SEMIOTICS OF MEDIEVAL MANUSCRIPT ILLUMINATION
A DISSERTATION
SUBMITTED ON THE FIFTEENTH OF APRIL, 1994
TO THE DEPARTMENT OF FRENCH AND ITALIAN
OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF
TULANE UNIVERSITY
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR THE DEGREE OF
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
SHIRA SCHWAM-BAIRD
f h z c t b c l h ( ) P o c
k
APPROVED:
ELIZABETH W. POE, Ph.D.
CHAIR
^
■ ^
CAECILIA DAVIS, Ph.D.
SIMONE FISCHER, Ph.D. '
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TEXT AND IMAGE IN LE MORTIFIEMENT DE VAINE PLAISANCE
AND LE LIVRE DU CUER D’AMOURS ESPRIS BY RENE D’ANJOU:
TOWARD A SEMIOTICS OF MEDIEVAL MANUSCRIPT ILLUMINATION
AN ABSTRACT
SUBMITTED ON THE FIFTEENTH OF APRIL, 1994
TO THE DEPARTMENT OF FRENCH AND ITALIAN
OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF
TULANE UNIVERSITY
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR THE DEGREE OF
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
SHIRA SCHWAM-BAIRD
fliznbcih U) Pn
APPROVED:
ELIZABETH W. POE, Ph.D.
CHAIR
CAECILIA DAVIS, Ph.D.
SIMONE FISCHER, Ph.D.
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Rene d’Anjou’s Livre du Cuer is a romance allegory, set up as a dream narrative,
recounting the failed quest of the knight Cuer (the personified heart of the narrator), who
seeks to conquer the lady Doulce Mercy, held prisoner by the enemies of Love. The
Mortifiement de Vaine Plaisance is a didactic religious allegory concerning the Soul, who
desires heaven, distressed by her heart’s yearning for worldly things ("vaine plaisance"),
and the heart’s subsequent purification by crucifixion.
The surviving illuminated manuscripts of these two fifteenth-century texts provide
an interesting case study of the relationship between text and image, serving as impetus
to a larger investigation of a more general and theoretical understanding of such a
relationship. The first order is a thorough comparison of the miniature cycles and their
visual interpretation of the details of the text. Subsequent chapters develop a semiotic
approach to manuscript illumination as two sign systems interrelated in a single space,
and discuss the particular case of allegory, represented both verbally (in the text) and
visually (in the miniatures). The allegorical heart is the sign that connects the two texts,
but the miniatures serve different purposes in each: in the Mortifiement. the miniatures
amplify the text’s lessons and its attempt to excite intense religious emotion; in the Livre
du Cuer. they largely exalt the chivalric quest, which is fundamentally questioned by the
text.
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® Copyright by Shira Schwam-Baird, 1994
All Rights Reserved
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to thank the professors of my dissertation committee for their advice
and hard work: Dr. Elizabeth Poe, who was liberal with her time and words of
encouragement despite her responsibilities as chair, and who has fully supported me in
all my projects and ambitions; Dr. Caecilia Davis, who graciously stepped over from the
Art Department to keep me from making foolhardy mistakes as I ventured into the
domain of art history; and Dr. Simonne Fischer, who steered me in matters semiotic.
Finally thanks are due to my husband, David, who has always bolstered me when
my courage falters; and to my son, Mikush, who has coped with parents going to school
for most of his childhood.
ii
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgment ii
Table of Contents iii
Introduction 1
Chapter One: The Mortifiement Manuscripts 10
Chapter Two: The Miniature Cycles of the Mortifiement de Vaine Plaisance 25
Chapter Three: The Cuer Manuscripts 48
Chapter Four: The Miniature Cycles of the Livre du Cuer d’Amours Espris 64
Chapter Five: Text and Image: A Semiotic Approach 120
Chapter Six: The Allegorical Sign 152
Conclusion 201
Appendix I: Table of Compositional Elements: The Mortifiement 208
Appendix II: Tabulation of Miniatures in W and P: The Livre du Cuer 209
Appendix III: Manuscript Sigla 211
Appendix IV: Figures 212
Bibliography 304
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