dr hab. Rafał Borysławski
dr hab. Rafał Borysławski
(University of Silesia)
(University of Silesia)
In the workshop I propose a closer interpretative scrutiny of four images and illuminations found in selected Anglo-Saxon (or related) manuscripts: the image of Christ and Dunstan kneeling before him related to the period of the Benedictine reform in 10th c. England; the facing images of St. Æðelþryð and God/Christ/Trinity in the benedictional of Æþelwold; the portrayal of King Edgar and Christ in Majesty from the New Minster charter; and the image depicting Queen Emma and her sons in the Encomium devoted to her. The workshop participants will be encouraged to look for and discuss the representations of royal prestige, power (both spiritual and earthly) and religious devotion. Attention will be directed to the issues of composition (including vectoral directions within the space of the image), colour, gesture, repetition, ornament, and the text (when it does appear as part of the image). The assumption behind the workshop is that manuscript images constituted the layer of meaning which not only complemented the senses conveyed in texts, but which could provide commanding statements and, occasionally, coded messages or even visual enigmas.
INFORMATION FOR PARTICIPANTS:
The following two texts provide some of the background contexts related to “reading images” in Anglo-Saxon and medieval culture. The participants are encouraged to read them, but they are not necessarily prerequisite for the workshop.
Michelle P. Brown, “Strategies of Visual Literacy in Anglo-Saxon and Insular Book Culture” in: Charles Islay and Gale R. Owen eds., Transformation in Anglo-Saxon Culture. Toller Lectures on Art, Archaeology and Text (Oxford: Oxbow Books, 2017), pp. 71-104.
Rafał Borysławski, “Hlæfdige and Hlaford. Gendered Power and Images of Continuity in Encomium Emmae Reginae” in Jakub Morawiec and Rafał Borysławski eds., Aspects of Royal Power in Medieval Scandinavia (Katowice: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego, 2018), pp. 99-112.
(PDF files of the articles can be obtained from the conference organisers. If you would like us to provide you with the files, please contact us via e-mail.)
The participants may also want to become familiar with the following sources:
Dunstan kneeling before Christ, Dunstan’s Classbook, Oxford, Bodleian Library MS Auct. F. 4. 32, f. 1r. Link: click here
The Benedictional of St Æthelwold, with facing images of St. Æðelþryð and Christ. British Library Add MS 49598, ff. 90v-91r; Winchester, c. 971-984 Link (scroll down for images of the individual folios): click here
King Edgar’s charter for the New Minster, Winchester. British Library, Cotton MS Vespasian A VIII, ff. 2v-3r; Winchester, c. 966. Link (follow the “view” link below, especially for ff. [folios] 2v-3r): click here
The prefatory image from the Encomium Emmae Reginae, British Library, Additional MS 33241, ff. 1v-2r; S. England or Flanders, c. 1050. Link (follow the “view” link below, especially for ff. [folios] 1v-2r): click here
IMPORTANT NOTE:
All workshop participants are kindly asked to bring an electronic device with them (such as a laptop or a tablet), if possible.
Of course, in case that could prove difficult or impossible for anyone, please rest assured that the organisers will come with their own devices, and we do believe that there is nothing more pleasant than teamwork in such cases.
Rafał Borysławski works as associate professor in the Institute of English Cultures and Literatures, University of Silesia. His research areas are related to Old English literature and culture as well as to later medieval English texts.