Marginalia seen as ‘doodles’? Not a chance! Thank you for such a fascinating article, and so profusely illustrated. I’ve always loved marginalia and seek them out whenever I can. The skill of the artists drawing them is certainly of great quality, and they can be as witty in their innocent medieval way as the artists who worked for Punch or the New Yorker. Thank you for the very memorable picture of a rabbit astride a hound, holding a snail instead of a hawk.
Wow, I am excited to learn about the gryllus! Is that related to the weird two-legged spaniel in the left-hand panel of Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights?
You may want to check out Dreams of Subversion in Jewish Medieval Art and Literature by Marc Michael Epstein for a alternative take on the rabbit iconography et al
Interesting! I was watching Jonathan Pageau recently and he mentioned about how a lot of manuscripts were written from memory and the memorisation techniques the monastery scribes used to commit large texts to memory involved a lot of vivid imagery so could these marginalia also be related to that perhaps?
Knights of old would have been the "celebrities" of medieval times. "Pin-Ups" revered by lower nobility ... and even down to the peasantry. "Social Structure" would have been defined by stories and art about the "bourgeouise" JUST as happens today. People MUST KNOW THEIR PLACE!
Thank you for the guide! Medieval European art and history are a favorite subject of mine. The art is often misunderstood, but I see it as witty and charming.
Thankyou for posting this,...methinks i will delve further,..thou hast causeth the cartwheel to turn in my head,..thou art witty and thoughtful to posteth this on Legal af.......
“… and there was much rejoicing” (*cheers*)
Ahhh, I KNEW I wouldn't be the only one picking up Python undertones! "Wot's 'e gonna do, bite yer bum?"
Marginalia seen as ‘doodles’? Not a chance! Thank you for such a fascinating article, and so profusely illustrated. I’ve always loved marginalia and seek them out whenever I can. The skill of the artists drawing them is certainly of great quality, and they can be as witty in their innocent medieval way as the artists who worked for Punch or the New Yorker. Thank you for the very memorable picture of a rabbit astride a hound, holding a snail instead of a hawk.
Wow, I am excited to learn about the gryllus! Is that related to the weird two-legged spaniel in the left-hand panel of Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights?
You may want to check out Dreams of Subversion in Jewish Medieval Art and Literature by Marc Michael Epstein for a alternative take on the rabbit iconography et al
“lapine suffering” 🤣🤣🤣
I must reuse this!
FYI the British phrase is "All talk and NO trousers", meaning someone's bark is worse than their bite. Loved this post, thank you!
Interesting! I was watching Jonathan Pageau recently and he mentioned about how a lot of manuscripts were written from memory and the memorisation techniques the monastery scribes used to commit large texts to memory involved a lot of vivid imagery so could these marginalia also be related to that perhaps?
Fantastic. And I’m especially grateful for your sourcing beneath the images!
Knights of old would have been the "celebrities" of medieval times. "Pin-Ups" revered by lower nobility ... and even down to the peasantry. "Social Structure" would have been defined by stories and art about the "bourgeouise" JUST as happens today. People MUST KNOW THEIR PLACE!
Thank you for the guide! Medieval European art and history are a favorite subject of mine. The art is often misunderstood, but I see it as witty and charming.
What a fascinating article. I have always wondered about the meaning of (and greatly admired the artistry of) the various medieval marginalia.
Thank you. Tis fascinating.
Thankyou for posting this,...methinks i will delve further,..thou hast causeth the cartwheel to turn in my head,..thou art witty and thoughtful to posteth this on Legal af.......
Brilliant in every way. I read it with great joy. Thank you!
Do you know of, or indeed did you develop, the card game Brother, Why? A family favourite, this is very informative and will give me the edge...
Great post! I’ve recently taken an interest in medieval manuscripts.