What are marginalia and why were they important?
Marginalia are illustrations or notations in the margins of manuscripts. In medieval illuminated manuscripts figurative marginalia provide a rich terrain of artistic expression, with distinctive characteristics according to period, locus of production, and school or scriptorium.
What is the history of marginalia?
Marginalia is a term that was coined in 1832 by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (Jackson, 2001), although the practice predates the printed book, extending back to include commentary by bored monks in the scriptorium.
Why are there so many snails in medieval art?
4) The snails represent social climbers / poor vs rich The knights represent the higher levels of society, whereas the snails are the poor masses. They have no weapons with which to fight those above them, and they are base creatures struggling to win against those who have a better lot in life.
Why so many medieval manuscripts depict violent rabbits?
In medieval times, rabbits were usually seen as symbols of purity and helplessness. This is why we can often find them on the scenes with the Holy Family or Christ, like here on Dürer’s etching.
What marginalia means?
Definition of marginalia 1 : marginal notes or embellishments (as in a book) 2 : nonessential items the meat and marginalia of American politics — Saturday Rev.
What is a marginalia in literature?
Marginalia (or apostils) are marks made in the margins of a book or other document. They may be scribbles, comments, glosses (annotations), critiques, doodles, or illuminations.
What does the poem marginalia mean?
Summary. ‘Marginalia’ by Richard Wilbur is concerned with the parts of life that exist at the edge of our consciousness and how we are, every day, affected by them. The poem begins with the speaker stating the simple fact that “Things concentrate at the edges.” He uses a pond to illustrate his point.
Why are snails evil?
Because they emerge from their shells, snails came to symbolise the Christian Resurrection, and by extension, purity. And because they have ‘horns’, they stand for the Devil and for evil.
How was a snail like a Lombard?
In her famous survey of the subject, Lilian Randall proposed that the snail was a symbol of the Lombards, a group vilified in the early middle ages for treasonous behaviour, the sin of usury, and ‘non-chivalrous comportment in general.
Are killer rabbits real?
Killer rabbit may refer to: Rabbit of Caerbannog, a fictional beast from the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Jimmy Carter rabbit incident, a 1979 incident involving a swamp rabbit trying to board President Jimmy Carter’s fishing boat.
What does Scriptorium mean in English?
a copying room for scribes
Definition of scriptorium : a copying room for scribes especially in a medieval monastery.