Faculty and students are invited to the November 18th (12pm EST) meeting of the Columbia University Seminar on Religion and Writing. Dr. Malena Ratzke (Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena) will present her research about image-text relationships in manuscripts of the Speculum humanae salvationis. An abstract follows below.
Please register using this form by Friday, November 14th if you would like to attend the seminar. The meeting will be held on Zoom only; all participants will receive a link to the meeting on Monday, November 17th by email.
Columbia University encourages persons with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. University Seminar participants with disabilities who anticipate needing accommodations may contact the Office of Disability Services at 212.854.2388 or [email protected]. Disability accommodations, including sign-language interpreters, are available on request. Requests for accommodations must be made two weeks in advance.
“No Writer is Capable of Fully Describing It”: Visualizing Hell in the Speculum humanae salvationis
With more than 400 extant manuscripts in vernacular languages and Latin, together with countless block books and incunables, the Speculum humanae salvationis is one of the most successful works of devotional literature in late medieval Europe. A typological framework forms its basic structure, juxtaposing New Testament episodes about the lives of Christ and Mary (that is, “antitypes”) with corresponding Old Testament episodes which were understood as their prefigurations (that is, “types”). Speculum manuscripts visualize the idea of a typological relation between the Old and the New Testament by arranging pictorial elements and script in conventionalized layouts. Their multigraphic concept is explicitly tailored to the needs of a lay audience and their religious teachers.
Using different examples of the visualization of hell, I will discuss the Speculum’s twofold objective of presenting basic theological knowledge while facilitating hermeneutic interpretation with the help of both verbal and visual means. Focusing on vernacular German translations, with glances at the Latin tradition, I will explore three aspects: firstly, the interplay of pictorial and verbal visualization meant to guide processes of understanding, interpreting, and contemplating Scripture; secondly, the effects of visual organization on these processes; and thirdly, the status of material images rather visualizing abstract motifs than depicting narrative episodes. By focusing on these three aspects, my presentation will provide new insights into the role of multigraphic artefacts in religious reading practices.
For more information, please see the Seminar’s website: https://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/islamicbooks/religionwriting/
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