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The Mirror in Medieval and Early Modern Culture CURSOR MUNDI Cursor Mundi is produced under the auspices of the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, University of California, Los Angeles. Executive Editor Blair Sullivan, University of California, Los Angeles Editorial Board Michael D. Bailey, Iowa State University Christopher Baswell, Columbia University and Barnard College Florin Curta, University of Florida Elizabeth Freeman, University of Tasmania Yitzhak Hen, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Lauren Kassell, Pembroke College, Cambridge David Lines, University of Warwick Cary Nederman, Texas A&M University Teofilo Ruiz, University of California, Los Angeles Previously published volumes in this series are listed at the back of the book. Volume 25 The Mirror in Medieval and Early Modern Culture Specular Reflections Edited by Nancy M. Frelick British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. © 2016, Brepols Publishers n.v., Turnhout, Belgium All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. D/2016/0095/2 ISBN: 978-2-503-56454-8 e-ISBN: 978-2-503-56564-4 DOI: 10.1484/M.CURSOR-EB.5.108028 Printed on acid-free paper Contents List of Illustrations vii Preface ix Introduction NANCY M. FRELICK 1 Aristotle’s ‘Bloody Mirror’ and Natural Science in Medi eval and Early Modern Europe BERTHOLD HUB 31 Specular Art and Science: Mirror Metaphor in Medi eval Alchemical Texts ANNA DYSERT 73 Adjusting the Mirror: A Political Remake of Brunetto Latini’s Li Livres dou Tresor DAVID NAPOLITANO 89 Mirror Metaphors in Persian Sufi Literature LEILA RAHIMI BAHMANY 113 Language as Mirror: Semiramis and Alexander in a Late Byzantine Romance ALISON BERINgER 131 vi Contents Sight Lines: The Mirror of the Mind in Medi eval Poetics Suzanne ConkLin akbari 149 Comme dans un miroir, comme dans un adage: chatoiements et reflets de la reprise et de l’amitié HéLène CazeS 171 Mirror/Window, reflection/Deflection: regulating the Gaze inside and outside the House in Gilles Corrozet’s Blasons domestiques (1539) eLizabetH bLaCk 190 a Mosaic Mirror: Fracture and Fault Line of ronsard’s Amours of 1552 toM ConLey 211 between Stage-Prop and Metaphor: Mirrors in Giovan battista Della Porta and Giordano bruno SerGiuS koDera 235 Portraits et miroirs dans les éloges collectifs de femmes au xviie siècle Jean-PHiLiPPe beauLieu 257 The reflection Sundial at Palazzo Spada in rome: The Mirror as instrument, Symbol, and Metaphor uLrike FeiSt 271 index 287 List of Illustrations Elizabeth Black Figure 8.1. ‘Contre les blasonneurs des membres’, from gilles Corrozet, Les Blasons domestiques contenantz la decoration d’une maison honneste (Paris, 1539) ....................................................190 Figure 8.2. ‘Le Blason de la sasle et chambre’, from gilles Corrozet, Les Blasons domestiques contenantz la decoration d’une maison honneste (Paris, 1539) ....................................................193 Figure 8.3. ‘Le Blason de l’estuy de chambre’, from gilles Corrozet, Les Blasons domestiques contenantz la decoration d’une maison honneste (Paris, 1539) ....................................................197 Figure 8.4. ‘Le Blason du miroir’, from gilles Corrozet, Les Blasons domestiques contenantz la decoration d’une maison honneste (Paris, 1539) ....................................................199 Tom Conley Figure 9.1. Frontispiece, Les Amours de P. de Ronsard Vandomoys: Ensemble le cinquiesme de ses odes (Paris: Chez la Veufve de Maurice de la Porte, au clos Bruneau, à l’enseigne S. Claude, 1552)......... 212–13 Figure 9.2. Les Amours de P. de Ronsard (1552), pp. 32–33...............220 viii list of iLLUSTRATIONS Figure 9.3. Abel Foullon, Vsaige et description de l’holometre. Pour scavoir mesvrer toutes choses qui sont soubs l’estenduë de l’œil: Tant en longueur & largeur, qu’en hauteur & profondité. Inuenté par Abel Foullon Vallet de chambre du Roy  (Paris: Pierre Beguin 1561)........................................221 Figure 9.4. Pieter Apian, Cosmographia  (Paris: Vivant gaultherot, 1551) ..................................226 Sergius Kodera Figure 10.1. Della Porta, Magia, p. 553. ...............................248 Ulrike Feist Figure 12.1. galleria della Meridiana, Palazzo Spada, Rome. ............273 Figure 12.2. Mezzanine window and reflected point of light, galleria della Meridiana, Palazzo Spada, Rome. .....................274 Figure 12.3. galleria della Meridiana, engraving from Emmanuel Maignan, Perspectiva horaria (Rome: Philippi Rubei, 1648)...........276 Figure 12.4. Angelo Michele Colonna and Agostino Mitelli, Putto with bee. Fresco, 1635, Sala di Pompeo (Sala grande), Palazzo Spada, Rome. ............................................278 Figure 12.5. Angelo Michele Colonna and Agostino Mitelli, Allegory of Virtue. Fresco, 1635, Sala di Pompeo (Sala grande), Palazzo Spada, Rome. ............................................279 Figure 12.6. giovanni Battista Magni, Allegories of Astronomy, Cosmography, geometry and Optics. Fresco, 1644, galleria della Meridiana, Palazzo Spada, Rome. .....................283 Preface The essays in this collection are revised versions of selected papers from an international conference entitled Specular Reflections: The Mirror in Medi eval and Early Modern Culture, held at green College on the cam- pus of the Uni ver sity of British Columbia, on 16–18 March 2012. This confer- ence — the 40th UBC Medi eval Workshop, organized by Nancy M. Frelick, Juliet O’Brien, and Chantal Phan — contributed to a long-standing tradition of interdisciplinary colloquia exploring various aspects of the premodern period, several of which have produced edited volumes.1 We also followed in the foot- steps of some predecessors in expanding the geographical and chronological confines of the Medi eval Workshop. The theme was selected by the Medi eval Studies Committee (Chair: Courtney Booker) because of its rich interdisciplinary potential and because of the importance and polyvalence of mirrors as objects or instruments, as well as signs, in the periods in question. Later on, in the modern period, mir- rors became more ubiquitous and therefore lost some of the symbolic charge obtained when they were rare, precious commodities — the implications of some of these changes are considered in the introduction. This multidisciplinary collection was not designed to resemble ordinary conference proceedings; instead, it presents the very best from among submis- sions written specifically with this thematic volume in mind. It features chap- ters dealing with ‘specularity’ through text, image, and various branches of 1 Recent titles include: Stephen Partridge and Erik Kwakkel, eds, Author, Reader, Book: Medi eval Authorship in Theory and Practice (Toronto: Uni ver sity of Toronto Press, 2012); Niall Christie and Maya Yazigi, eds, Noble Ideals and Bloody Realities: Warfare in the Middle Ages (Leiden: Brill, 2006); and Siân Echard and Stephen Partridge, eds, The Book Unbound: Editing and Reading Medi eval Manuscripts and Texts (Toronto: Uni ver sity of Toronto Press, 2004). x Preface learning, especially those that engage with the paradoxical ways mirror images are used in the Middle Ages and early modern period. As such, it represents an original contribution on mostly secular (rather than sacred) mirrors in pre- modern times. The volume contains articles based on approximately half of the original conference papers, so it does not reflect every nuance of the lively conversations that took place during the colloquium. We hope, however, that this collection offers a valuable cross-section of the wide range of issues that were addressed during the sessions and ensuing discussion periods, thanks to the diversity of participants and disciplinary approaches. We were fortunate to receive several grants and financial contributions that enabled us, among other things, to secure travel funding for many esteemed col- leagues and graduate students from Europe and from all over North America. For this financial assistance, we thank: the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada’s Aid to Research Workshops and Conferences; the UBC Humanities and Social Sciences Symposium grant program (Faculty of Arts); the Office of the Provost and Vice President Academic; along with several Departments at the Uni ver sity of British Columbia: History; French, Hispanic, and Italian Studies; Central, Eastern, and Northern European Studies; Art History, Visual Arts, and Theory; English; and Classical, Near Eastern, and Religious Studies. Most sessions were held at green College, a beautifully situated, multidis- ciplinary graduate college at the Uni ver sity of British Columbia. We are grate- ful to Mark Vessey, Principal of green College, for his gracious and generous support, and for continuing the annual tradition of welcoming the Medi eval Workshop. We also wish to acknowledge the Faculty of Arts for providing large auditoriums for the two plenary lectures, which were open to the general public. The Head of French, Hispanic, and Italian Studies at the time, André Lamontagne, supported this project from the start and we are grateful for his generosity. We also wish to thank Courtney Booker, then Chair of Medi- eval Studies, for his support and for suggesting we approach Blair Sullivan, Publications Director at the UCLA Center for Medi eval and Renaissance Studies, to see whether there might be interest in including this volume in the Cursor Mundi series. Thanks also go to Claire Carlin at the Uni ver sity of Victoria, who shared her experience and expertise and provided invaluable advice at crucial stages of the project. It is a special privilege to underscore the contributions of our two distin- guished plenary speakers, Suzanne Conklin Akbari (Uni ver sity of Toronto) and Tom Conley (Harvard Uni ver sity), who offered very different angles on

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Mirrors have always fascinated humankind. They collapse ordinary distinctions, making visible what is normally invisible, and promising access to hidden realities. Yet, these liminal objects also point to the limitations of human perception, knowledge, and wisdom. In this interdisciplinary volume, s
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