The hortus conclusus: Marian iconography in the late Middle Ages.

摘要

This dissertation is a study of the hortus conclusus (enclosed garden) in Marian iconography during the diminishing Middle Ages. Those years cover approximately the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries in Western Europe.;Hortus conclusus imagery was the beautiful windfall of preaching and literature in northern Western Europe, including the cities along the Rhine River in the German Empire and in the Low Countries, and its contribution as a symbol of the Virgin Mary has prevailed throughout the ages.;Verse 4:12 of the Song of Songs in the Old Testament is generally viewed as the source of inspiration for Marian garden iconography: "Hortus conclusus, soror mea sponsa; hortus conclusus, fons signatus," or "my sister, my spouse, is a garden enclosed, a garden enclosed, a fountain sealed up." This short verse has inspired visual symbols of Mary as vehicle of the Incarnation: She is the perpetual virgin, garden of everlasting life and source of nourishment for that life, and exemplar of the feminine ideal in medieval Christian imaginations. Objects from other Old Testament stories as well as the legendary unicorn are often seen with Mary in the enclosed garden to symbolize the Incarnation.;Interpreting the language of the Song of Songs evolved as the Church evolved in its growth. The patristic fathers found it challenging to find a suitable place for its exotic and sensual language in the new Christian Church, and Verse 4:12 was first interpreted to express Mary's perpetual virginity. Eventually the Song was written into the Latin liturgy as a way to honor Mary's Assumption. A shift from the liturgical application to a more devotional form of commentary gathered momentum in the twelfth century when the Song of Songs became the most popular Biblical book on which to comment. Interpretation of Verse 4:12 was expanded to include Mary as the type of Church, with Mary representing the new or virginal Church. By the late Middle Ages, monastic exegesis and vernacular literature on the Song of Songs inspired the creation of a wealth of images of Mary, although only a small number have surfaced of her in the enclosed garden vis-à-vis her role in human salvation.