Text and images of Ovid in the Trecento. The manuscript of Berchorius Gotha, Research library, Membr. I 98 and its cultural context

Basic data for this project

Description

After the rediscovery of Ovid in the 12th and 13th centuries starts in the 14th century a new and very intensive adoption of the Metamorphoses. In this context originate also the Ovidius moralizatus of Petrus Berchorius. The first version of this text was written in Avignon around 1340. The systematic interpretation of all the stories told by Ovid is directed at a legitimation and an increase in value of the ancient poetry. Already around 1350 there was made in Bologna, probably for Bruzio Visconti, a cycle of illustrations, which should include over 200 images. The narrative content and the emotional tension of the myths is the main focus of the miniatures. The painters have a special interest in the many metamorphoses from men in animals or plant, which has a psychological effect as well as one in natural history. The cycle of miniatures is nearly unknown and we will analyses id in the relationship between text and images and also contextualize id in the culture of early humanism. The manuscript in Gotha has a key-position for the debate on the ancient myths in the 14th century.