On the basis of a comprehensive analysis, the famous Chronicon Sanctae Sophiae of Benevento (Vat. Lat. 4939) - althought it might be better to entitle it Registrum Sanctae Sophiae, given that it largely consists of copies of the deeds of donations to the monastery - was apparently intended for uses other than the simple reading and viewing enjoyment of an illuminated manuscript. To be more precise, it is a codex that was intended to convince anyone who might have cast doubt on the legitimacy of the assets of the abbey; furthermore, perhaps because it had to be used on a specific occasion, its completion was rushed. This is partially demonstrated by the incomplete form of most of the illustrations which, unlike the very few number of finished and qualitatively significant illustrations, are a later addition and thus not a part of the original plan for the book. Indeed, these incomplete illustrations were inserted in spaces that were definitely intended originally to contain the initial letters of the documents. The decision to complete the codex with pictorial illustrations, particularly scenes of donations with specific references to the text highlighted by accompanying red letter captions, thereby depriving the text of numerous initial letters, was thus a highly conscious act intended to enhance the truthfulness and authority of the transcribed documents, resorting to the persuasive nature of the images.

Il ‘Chronicon Sanctae Sophiae’ di Benevento: l’apparato decorativo e illustrativo

FACHECHI, GRAZIA MARIA
1997

Abstract

On the basis of a comprehensive analysis, the famous Chronicon Sanctae Sophiae of Benevento (Vat. Lat. 4939) - althought it might be better to entitle it Registrum Sanctae Sophiae, given that it largely consists of copies of the deeds of donations to the monastery - was apparently intended for uses other than the simple reading and viewing enjoyment of an illuminated manuscript. To be more precise, it is a codex that was intended to convince anyone who might have cast doubt on the legitimacy of the assets of the abbey; furthermore, perhaps because it had to be used on a specific occasion, its completion was rushed. This is partially demonstrated by the incomplete form of most of the illustrations which, unlike the very few number of finished and qualitatively significant illustrations, are a later addition and thus not a part of the original plan for the book. Indeed, these incomplete illustrations were inserted in spaces that were definitely intended originally to contain the initial letters of the documents. The decision to complete the codex with pictorial illustrations, particularly scenes of donations with specific references to the text highlighted by accompanying red letter captions, thereby depriving the text of numerous initial letters, was thus a highly conscious act intended to enhance the truthfulness and authority of the transcribed documents, resorting to the persuasive nature of the images.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11576/1881398
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