FAH 271S: Art of the Medieval North-Essay

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The point of this assignment is to look closely at an illustration of a biblical story and to consider how manuscript painters in the Early Christian period conveyed, followed, and departed from textual sources. The assignment focuses on an Anglo-Saxon manuscript called the Benedictional of Aethelwold (see Stokstad for basic information about it and the context in which it was produced). Images from the Benedictional appear on the FADIS course page in a carousel labeled “Benedictional Project.”

Here are the basic steps that you should follow. These steps should help you develop your ideas and write a good thesis-driven paper. The organization of your paper should not replicate this structure.

First, choose one of the pages from the manuscript (the ones on the FADIS carousel) and familiarize yourself with the passages from the New Testament that tell its story. Remember that the scenes may appear in more than one gospel book. The precise stories and passages appear on the “notes” section for each image in the carousel; push the projection icon (on the ribbon at the top of the FADIS screen) to see the notes next to the image.

Second, locate the appropriate passages in the Douay-Rheims bible, the standard English translation of the medieval Latin Vulgate. It is available online at: https://www.drbo.org/

Third, familiarize yourself with your passages. Read them several times until you are certain that you understand the basic story and know about the characters involved. Do the different gospels emphasize the same details? Keep track of where certain details appear and where they are absent. The course handout on Scenes from the Life of Christ may be helpful.

You will likely need to read more than your specific passages in order to understand what was happening before the story illustrated on your page; read as widely as necessary. You may consult other versions to get a solid grasp of the passage in question, but when it comes to analyzing and writing about the image, stick with D-R.

Fourth, analyze your page with the following questions in mind: How is the unfolding action of the story conveyed? Who is emphasized? What actions and emotions are emphasized? Can you determine or imagine why? How is the setting conveyed, and its relationship to the cast of characters? How are characters differentiated from each other in the illustration?

Is there one gospel text that seems particularly influential for your image? If so, which ones? In what aspects of the illustration do the painters appear to have departed from the text? In your opinion, is there much “space” for artistic creativity? In other words, what does the artist add to a textual experience of the story?

Fifth, write a paper elaborating upon your responses to the questions listed above and any other pertinent issues/questions you wish to consider. The paper should be a thesis-driven paper, meaning that you should be using the observations you develop above to make an argument about the page. Be specific in your responses. Quote biblical passages according to standard form in the text (e.g., Gen. 8:9-12) and identify details in the illustrations precisely. NO ADDITIONAL RESEARCH IS NECESSARY, REQUIRED, OR ACCEPTABLE. Papers that are based on additional research will be returned unmarked.

Sixth, read, re-read, re-write, edit, proofread carefully; when you think that you are finished, edit and proofread again. Your paper will be read by at least two people, and the accuracy and style of your writing will have a bearing on your mark.

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