PENTECOST 2007 SPECIAL EDITION
ISSUE 10 - ISSN 1448 - 6326
Jacopo da Varagine's Virgin Mary as the Mirror Without Blemish
Rubymaya Jaeck-Woodgate
Abstract
This paper aims to explore the understanding offered by Jacopo da Varagine for the speculum sine macula, the mirror-without-blemish, used most commonly as an attribute of the Virgin Mary. Varagines Mariale is not a widely studied source, partially owing to the fact that it remains as yet unedited and untranslated from the original Latin. The British Library holds a complete, heavily abbreviated but reasonably clear 1497 edition, and this has been used for the purposes of this paper. The Mariale is one of the few authoritative sources which offers a full definition of this difficult attribute. The speculum sine macula was widely used in devotional writing and art, and as such it is widely cited. However, the understanding of it as an active attribute signifying one of the Virgins intercessory roles, as opposed to an entirely passive symbol of her purity, is often overlooked. Varagines definition emphasises both the symbol of purity and the active, reflective action that the mirror-without-blemish attributes to the Virgin.
The speculum sine macula is an attribute of the Virgin Mary, one of the various 'perfections' of the Virgin that are most commonly recalled in the continued use of the Litany of Loreto, although the version approved in 1567 does not include the speculum sine macula. These attributes are for the most part derived from the Song of Songs, for example, the walled garden, or the sealed fountain. The speculum sine macula ( hereafter SSM ), however, has a biblical source in Wisdom 7.26, where it is said of Wisdom that ' She is the brilliance of everlasting light, an unspotted mirror of the majesty of God, and the image of his goodness. '. It is significant that the mirror as an attribute of the personification of Prudence shares this biblical source with the SSM. The SSM appears as an attribute of the Immaculate Virgin in art from the beginning of the sixteenth century onwards, but its usage in Marian sermons and exegesis dates from at least the lifetime of Jacopo da Varagine, who gave the SSM a uniquely full interpretation in his Mariale. In art and illustration it may appear alone or alongside the other 'perfections'.
The purpose of this paper is to examine the main points of Varagine's treatment of the SSM within the Mariale, and to place the SSM into the wider context of the mirror as a religious metaphor and symbol by examining some examples of such usage. Following this a brief examination of the SSM as an attribute in the visual arts is appropriate and it will be considered in terms of its source and visual interpretations alongside the mirror attribute of Prudence. There are of course a vast range of uses for the mirror as attribute and symbol in art, but the relationship of Prudence is especially interesting here, as the two mirrors share a biblical source. The extension of this attribute will also be briefly examined in some unusual examples of glass and reflection in religious artworks. ~
The Mariale[1] forms the last part of the Sermones of Jacopo da Varagine.[2] The 1497 edition of this work[3] comprises a series of one hundred and sixty-one sermons, headed by a virtue, type or title attributed to the Virgin and alphabetically arranged from 'abstinentia' to 'vulnerata'. The sermon on the Virgin as Speculum is the seventh entry under 's', but is numbered as the eighth,[4] and it is here that Varagine explains the reference to the Virgin as a mirror on four separate grounds. The level of precision and detail in this reference for the SSM is unusual and coming from an undeniably well-known authority deserves significant treatment.
The SSM is generally accepted as signifying two qualities: Firstly, the mirror borrows into the iconography of glass and the Virgin. Glass, usually in the form of windows or glass vases filled with water or white lilies and often shown with light falling into it, signifies the inviolable purity of the Virgin. The logic of this iconography is that just as light pierces glass without causing any change to its structure, so the Holy Spirit entered her and caused her to conceive without violating her virginity.[5]
The first and second explanations of the Virgin as Speculum offered by Varagine show these ideas, and elaborate somewhat. The first explanation given is that the two physical components of a mirror, glass and lead,[6] reflect two essential qualities of the Virgin: The glass indicates her virginity and ability to hold the image of God, and lead indicates both her ductility, and by its ashen colour, her humility.[7] Varagine then notes that just as lead and glass must be 'struck together' to make a mirror, so the Virgin could not have been made the mirror of God if she was not both virginal and humble.[8]
In the second explanation, Varagine notes the inviolable nature of glass. This idea has already been explained in regards to its use in art, that light may pass through glass without breaking it, just as the Virgin conceived Christ without altering her virginal state of being.[9] There is a fine distinction between glass, and glass struck by light. It could be said that whereas glass signifies the original purity and submissiveness of the Virgin, the light falling into the glass signifies the confirmation of the inviolable nature of her virginity.
The SSM's second and primary signification is that of flawlessness, in that it is a flawless surface, a flawless mirror. However, what the Virgin actually reflects and to whom, is often omitted from discussion. She is a 'mirror of God' , but this is not a straightforward metaphor. There were many variations in the action of a mirror as a religious symbol during the period in which the SSM emerged, and to be properly evaluated, the SSM needs to be placed into that context. Given the idea that the Virgin as SSM was valued solely as a flawless surface is not a reasonable one, the question of what kind of mirror the SSM was understood to be, as well as what it was understood to reflect and to whom ought to be considered.
The mirror was an extremely popular metaphorical device in many genres of religious writing from the twelfth century well into the fourteenth century, and there are many uses for the mirror as a symbol and a tool, both positive and negative. It was used to imagine the relationship between God and creation, especially the notions of man as the imperfect image of God, and Christ as the exemplar of mankind. For example, in his De filiatione Dei, Nicholas of Cusa uses the notion of bent and broken mirrors, which can only imperfectly reflect what is placed before them, as an analogy for man in his fallen state. These mirrors reflect only a disfigured image of the divine exemplar. Interestingly, God Himself is described as a perfectly straight, clear and infinite in its perspective, thus encompassing all of creation in his creative, sustaining sight.[10] This use of mirror-imagery to explore creation as a dialectic of reflection was not uncommon amongst the later mystic theologians, such as Ruusbroec and Henry Suso.
Other uses for the mirror in religious writing during this period include other kinds of revelation concerning mans mortality and inner nature, all based upon the action of reflection. This is what these imagined mirrors have in common: the fact that they always show the viewer something, something otherwise unrevealed. The important questions to consider beyond this common result are, as aforementioned, what is reflected, is who or what the 'mirror' in question is. The precise function of each moralising mirror varies, but the two types that seem most relevant could be called 'mirrors of example' and 'mirrors of conscience'.
Mirrors lead to self-knowledge by presenting the true nature of something, presenting either an ideal to aspire to, or a revelation of the faults in need of correction. For example the fourteenth century Northumbrian writer, Richard Rolle de Hampole elaborates on the rewards of a righteous life at length in his poem, The Prick of Conscience ( Stimulus Conscientiae ). He says of the mirror of God, citing St Augustine, that the righteous will see not only their own true nature in the mirror that is God, but also they will be able to see all the works of God, and the true nature of the Godhead.[11] Therefore, they see three things: The mirror, which is God, their own reflection or likeness, and in that likeness, the entirety of creation.[12] Rolle elaborates this basic premise extensively, ending with the righteous seeing the reason and cause of all things.[13]
This is a quality usually ascribed to the vision of God, as in Nicholas of Cusa's De visione Dei, where he states that human vision is limited, but Gods sight actually is a living, seeing mirror which simultaneously creates and sees all things within itself.[14] Similarly Hildegard von Bingen states that ' as namely a mirror reflects all that appears before it, so all God's work appears timelessly within the holy Godhead. '[15]. Henry Suso likewise believed the righteous would be able to see the entirety of creation in the mirror of the godhead.[16]
Then, just as mirrors might reveal the creation, and the archetype of man, they may also provide a revelation of the individual's own moral state, as John Lydgate's 1498 ' Englisht ' version of Guillaume de Guileville's The Pilgrimage of the Life of Man explains. Having rejected the Mirror of Flattery as deceiving, the Pilgrim looks into the Mirror of Conscience and sees himself as ' foul and unclean / And right hideous to behold / abominable and vicious. / That mirror and that glass / Showed me what I was. '.[17] He is then told that the purpose of the mirror is to encourage men to truly see themselves and mend the flaws revealed to them.[18]
An idea connected to this is that of the soul itself as the revelatory mirror. Richard of St Victor tells the judging of a soul's moral state in terms of a mirror, saying that when the soul is pure, they will see clearly and know themselves truly, when it is unclean, they will not see themselves and will not be able to know themselves.[19]
The understanding of how these 'mirrors of conscience' were supposed to function is clearly illustrated in the prologue to Sebastian Brant's fifteenth century Ship of Fools ( Das Narrenschiff ) where he explains that his book shall be a mirror for fools, who, seeing their counterfeits in the characters he presents, will finally see the truth and learn humility.[20] Even more explicit is the dedication of the Mirror of Fools ( Speculum Stultorum ), written by Nigel of Longchamps, also called Nigel Wireker, around 1180. He explains that he has entitled the book thus, hoping that fools seeing their own behaviour mirrored in his characters will learn to reprehend in themselves what they see as reprehensible in others.[21]
The third explanation offered by Varagine is most relevant to understanding what type of mirror the SSM might represent, as it is here that Varagine explains what mankind might see in the mirror that is the Virgin:
For as all things are reflected in a mirror, so in the Blessed Virgin, just as in the mirror of God, all ought to see their impurities and spots and ought to purify and correct them .there the proud, seeing her humility, perceive their blemishes. The avaricious perceive theirs, seeing her poverty. The wanton perceive theirs, seeing her virginity.[22]
This passage implies that the Virgin as a mirror shows mankind their flaws by revealing to them an ideal image against which they may judge themselves. The 'mirrors of example' given above focus on the Godhead, but the human Christ is described in the same way by Jan van Ruusbroec in chapter four of The Sparkling Stone, where he describes Christ: ' By this sparkling stone we mean our Lord Jesus Christ, for He is a shining forth of Eternal Light, and an irradiation of the glory of God, and a flawless mirror in which all things live. '.[23] In fact, this passage recalls the Virgin as SSM quite strongly, especially when the fourth and final explanation, which is brief [24] and describes the Virgin's brightness in terms of a mirror. Nitz has interpreted the fourth reason to mean that Virgin is as bright as a mirror reflecting light.[25]
These examples show that what is described as a 'mirror', whether it is the Godhead as archetype of man's soul, the soul itself, the conscience of an individual, or the Virgin, shows something. This forms the context in which Varagine's explicit interpretation of the Virgin as the 'flawless mirror of God's majesty' must be understood. As SSM, she shows mankind's flaws by providing an image of the ideal of their kind, to which they ought to aspire, and so encourages self-correction.
The examples above begin to show how the SSM fits into the context of the mirror as metaphor and symbol. There is still the question of the direct source and the attribute as used in art. The SSM shares its biblical source with the mirror attribute of Prudence.[26] This source is taken to signify self-knowledge when attached to Prudence . The mirror as an attribute also indicates self-knowledge and reflection when attached to the personification of Wisdom. For the sake of brevity, only a few relevant remarks will be made here on the SSM in art. Firstly, the mirror of Prudence shares with the SSM a tendency towards a set form. The SSM is almost uniformly depicted as a round convex mirror without any handle. Likewise, Prudence's mirror is predominantly a round, convex blown-glass type mirror. This standard type appears as her attribute even after the period when flat mirrors come into common usage.[27] There are exceptions, of course, Raphael's allegory of Prudence in the Stanza della Segnatura, Rome being a particularly notable one.
In representations of the Virgin Immaculate surrounded by the attributes of her various perfections, the SSM appears like the others, hanging in abstract space,[28] although there were more naturalistic representations of these attributes. There is no common place for the SSM in any other type of composition, and it may be held, propped up or even be placed at the Virgin's feet, because the Virgin does not use the mirror, rather, the mirror is analogous to her own person. The mirror of Prudence, like of that of Wisdom, however, is almost always held and the personification almost always gazes into it. This marks the difference in function: Prudence's gaze is necessary, because her contemplation of her reflection signifies that she possesses self-knowledge or introspection, which, along with reflection or hindsight, and foresight, complete her personification. However, these qualities of self-knowledge, reflection and foresight have been expressed by depicting Prudence as a two-faced figure with a mirror,[29] and occasionally as a triple-faced figure without a mirror.[30] Schwarz feels the mirror may have simply provided a more naturalistic solution to the problem of visualising these concepts.[31]
The SSM functions in a different way, in that it represents an aid to achieving self-knowledge, rather than personifying that achievement. In terms of development of iconography around the SSM, it should be noted that there are works in which the implication of a reflective surface referring to the SSM has been cautiously recognised. [32]
For example, in a drawing after Konrad Witz, the infant Christ gazes at his reflection in the surface of the water in a round vessel, while the Virgin looks on.[33] This may represent the Virgin as the perfect mirror of Christ, or the Godhead. To show how ideas like this may develop and be interpreted visually, a much stranger and more explicit idea of the Virgin as the ideal mirror of her son may be briefly mentioned. The final illustration to Honorius Augustodunensis's Expositio In Cantica Canticorum shows a figuration of the Virgin (within the logic of this illustrative scheme, she is a mandragora, representative of the restoration of the perfect life before the Fall) having her head replaced with a replica of Christ's own head.[34] These are interesting from the point of view of some of the sources mentioned above, in that they make literal the idea of the reflection of the Godhead.
Likewise, although there is a body of work in which the iconography of light passing through glass is clearly observable, Kulmbach's 1514 Coronation of the Virgin presents some difficulties.[35] The Christ figure holds a glass orb, which is not unusual. However, Miller points out in On Reflection[36] that on close inspection the orb very clearly bears the reflections of windows. It is difficult to believe that this was unintentional, and Miller suggests they may symbolise the idea of the universality of the Church. Alternatively, they may signify the role of the Virgin as the 'window', the glass that allowed the Holy Spirit to enter her without any change to her state. In Joos van Cleve's Salvator Mundi, a highly detailed reflection of a window appears upon the orb representing the world.[37] The position of the window-reflection in the dark curve above the landscape caught inside the orb, and the detail of the working points to a deliberate use. Again, perhaps this is a reference to the coming of Christ, as light through the window of the Virgin's body.
The SSM as an attribute of the Virgin interconnects with many different sources and developments. However, what is clear on approaching the SSM from the perspective of the usage of imagined mirrors, and mirrors in art is that it is indeed a 'mirror of example'. Varagine's interpretation, though only briefly discussed in its essential points here, places the SSM neatly alongside mirrors which function like the mirrors of Richard Rolle de Hampole, Jan van Ruusbroec and Hildegard von Bingen. These mirrors, endowed with the power to show the entirety of the true creation without flaw or omission, reflect an image of the ideal to which mankind might aspire. And though the concept of the mirrors of conscience in described in The Pilgrimage of the Life of Man, and the mirror provided conscientiously by Sebastian Brant is different, the ends sought are the same: Like these, the SSM is employed towards self-knowledge leading to self-improvement. In terms of art, the SSM shares its biblical source with Prudence, a personification signifying achieved self-knowledge. Understanding the interconnecting iconography of glass, reflection and the doctrine of the Immaculate Virgin and the Incarnation may also be essential in interpreting certain unusual visual syntheses of these ideas.
Looking at the SSM in context shows that the essential aspect of discovering what a mirror signifies, as an attribute, symbol or metaphor is to know what or whom the mirror is understood to be, what or whom it is supposed to reflect, how accurately it does so, and for whom this reflection is intended. This seems obvious, but given the small distinctions between the common usages for the imagined mirror, it is important. Clarification is also important for the mirror in art: This discussion has confined itself to the positive mirror bearing personifications that share their biblical source and attribute with the SSM, but the mirror also appears as an attribute of Pride, Vanity, Folly, and a common signifier of truth, especially as regards mortality. In certain cases of ambivalent mirror-bearers, a clear idea of what the mirror in question should and should not reflect, and whether the viewer can or cannot comprehend it, is essential to interpretation.
[2] For a discussion of the place of the Mariale in the context of both the Sermones and the complete works of Jacopo da Varagine, see: E. C. Richardson, Materials for a Life of Jacopo de Voragine, New York, 1935, II/ III-IV. S. Bertini Guidetti, I Sermones di Jacopo da Varazze: Il potere delle immagini nel Duecento, 1998, Florence.
[3] This work has not yet been published in a modern edition, and for the purposes of this paper the following edition has been used: Jacopo da Varagine, Mariale: siue sermones de beata Maria virgine, Venice, 1497. (British Library IA:24646). All transcriptions are my own, and all interpretations are my own unless otherwise noted.
[4] This is because the first entry under 's' is numbered as the second. Note that numbering occurs at the end of each section.
[5] These ideas are discussed in: M. Meiss, 'Light as form and symbol in some fifteenth-century paintings, Art Bulletin, 1945, pp. 175-81.
[6] 'Speculum enim componit et vitro et plumbo.' Mariale, f. 61v , left clm, 2.
[7] ' Per vitrum quod est lucidam signatur eius virginitas que fuit lucida coram deo Per plumbum quo est ductile habet colorem cineream itel ligitur eius humilitas. ' Mariale, f. 61v , left clm, 3. Nitz gives a similar interpretation, although he provides no direct translation of the original text, in: G. Nitz, 'Spiegel', in Marienlexikon, vol. 6, Regensburg, 1994, pp. 238.
[8] ' Et sic plumbum per se vel vitrum non facit speculum nisi simul plagantur, sic nec marie virginitas sine humilitate fecisser eam speculum dei. 'Mariale, f. 61v , left clm, 10.
[9] ' Speculam ergo non rupit radius solis, sic integritatem virginis ingressus et egresus vitiare non potuit radius divinitatis. 'Mariale, f. 61v , left clm, 39.
[10] Nicholas of Cusa, Nikolaus von Kues: Werke, ed. Paul Wilpert, Berlin, 1967, p. 192, (65-67).
[11] ' Ffor Saint Augustyn Țat my kelle couth clergy, / Says in a sarmon Țat he made openly, / Țat, in Țe syght of God Țat Țai salle se, / Thre manere of knowing tylle Țam salle be. / Ffor Țai salle se him Țare both God and man, / And Țam-self Țai salle see in him Țan, / And alle men and alle thing, les and mare. / ȚaI salle see, and knaw in Țat syght Țare, ' Richard Rolle de Hampole, The Pricke of Conscience ( Stimulus Conscientiae ), ed. Richard Morris, Berlin 1863, pp. 221, lines 8207 8214.
[12] ' Als we may thre thynges se here / In a myroure of glas Țat es clere; / Ane es Țe myrour Țat put byfor us es, / Ane other es our awene face and lyknes, / And Țe thred we may Țar-in se yhit, / Țat es alle thing Țat es onence it; / Right swa men salle se God als he es, / In Țe myroure of his bryghtnes, / Als properly als possible may be, / Tylle any creature him to se. 'Ibid. , pp. 221, lines 8215 8224.
[13] ' Țai salle Țan se Țare openly, / Of alle thynges Țe skylle and Țe cause whi; 'Ibid. , pp. 222, lines 8243 8244.
[14] ..Domine tu vides et habes oculos, es igitur oculus quia habere tuum est esse .Sed visus tuus cum sit oculus seu speculum vivum in se omnia videt...angulus autem oculi tui deus non est quantus: sed est infinitus: qui est et circulus: immo sphera infinita, quia visus est oculus spericitatis et perfectionis infinite, omnia igitur in circuitu et sursum et deorsum simul videt. Nicholas of Cusa, Werke, 1967, p. 304 (29-30).
[15] Hildegard von Bingen, Sanctae Hildegardis liber divinorum operum simpliciis hominus, cited in: H. Leisegang, 'Die Erkenntnis Gottes im Spiegel der Seele und Natur', Zeitschrift für Philosophische Forschung, IV, 1949-1950, 169-170.
[16] Henry Suso, The Exemplar, Life and Writings of the Blessed Henry Suso, O. P. , trans. Sister M. A. Edward, Iowa, 1962, II, pp. 47- 58.
[17] ' ffoule and vncleene, / And to byholdë, right hydous, / Abhomynabel and vecyous. / Thilkë merour and that glas / Schewyd to me what I was. ' John Lydgate, The Pilgrimage of the Life of Man: Englisht by John Lydgate A. D. 1426 from the French of Guillaume de Deguileville A. D. 1335, ed. F. J. Furnivall, London, 1901, pp. 600, lines 22494 - 22498.
[18] ' 'the Merour of Concyence', / Whiche schewith Vn-to a man what thing he dothe amys, / And how he schal the bette entende, / Alle his ffylthës to amende. ' Ibid. , pp. 601, lines 22509 - 22518.
[19] Richard of St Victor, 'The Way to Contemplation, a 14th century English translation' , in Late Medieval Mysticism, ed. R. C. Petry, London 1952, pp. 111.
[20] ' Den narrenspiegel ich dis nenn, / in dem ein jeder narr sich ssenn; / wer jeder si, wurd er bericht, / wer recht in narrenspiegel sicht. / wer sich recht spiegelt, der lert wol , / das er nit wis sich achten sol, / nit us sich halten das nit ist; ' Sebastian Brant, Das Narrenshiff, transcript. Karl Goedete, Leipzig, 1872, pp. 4, lines 31 37.
[21] ' Titulus igitur hjus libelli talis est, SPECULUM STULTORUM. Qui ideo sic appellatus est, ut insipientes aliena inspecta stultitia tamquam speculum eam habeant, quo inspecto propriam corrigant, discantque in seipsis id esse reprehendendum quod in aliis reprehensibile viderint quasi per speculum. 'Nigel of Longchamps, 'Nigelli Speculum Stultorum', from Anglo-Latin Satirical Poets and Epigrammatists of the Twelfth Century, ed. T. Wright, London, 1872, pp. 3.
[22] ' Omnia enim que sunt in speculo relucent, sic in beatam virgine tamquam in speculo dei debent omnes suas impuritates et maculas videre et eas mundare et corrigere superbi ibi cognoscet suas maculas respiciendo ibi suam humilitatem. Avari respiciendo ad suam paupertatem. Luxuriosi respiciendo ad suam virginitatem. 'Mariale, f. 61v , left clm, 42.
[23] Jan van Ruusbroec, 'The Sparkling Stone' , from The Adornment of the Spiritual Marriage, The Sparkling Stone, The Book of Supreme Truth, trans. C. A. Wyschenk Dom, ed. Evelyn Underhill, London, 1951, pp. 187.
[24] The fourth explanation is, in the 1497 edition, much shorter than the other three: Six column lines including the ending for the whole sermon, compared to fourteen to thirty-seven for each of the others. Varagine, Mariale, 1497, pp. lxi, right column.
[25] ' ..speculum propter praeluc* fulgorem. Sic et ipsa tota fuit fulgida. 'Mariale, f. 61v , right clm, 24. *This is heavily abbreviated. If the p with horizontal stroke above is taken to be 'prae', followed by 'l', followed by the abbreviation common for 'us / uc / ux ', a form of praeluceo, -ere, -xi is possible.
[26] Schwarz, "The Mirror in Art", 1952, pp. 105.
[27] During the fifteenth century, convex mirrors predominated, although flat glass mirrors were produced in small numbers and polished metal mirrors were still a cheap alternative. The metal mirrors were completely superseded by the beginning of the sixteenth century, and flat-glass mirrors, now mainly produced in Venice and supplying the whole of Europe, became gradually more predominant. Interestingly, in a 1568 German woodcut showing a mirror workshop ( fig. 28), only convex-type mirrors can be seen. For a good chronological survey of mirror-types, see: G. F. Hartlaub, Zauber des Spiegels: Geschichte und Bedeutung des Spiegels in der Kunst, Munich, 1951.
[28] For example, Theilman Kervers The Virgin with Emblems, from Heures à la usage de Rome, 1505, Paris, ( The Hungtington Library, California. ).
[29] For example, Andrea della Robbias Prudentia, 1475, (Metropolitan Museum, New York. ).
[30] These examples often also refer to the three ages of man, as in Titian's An Allegory of Prudence, c.1565-70, ( National Gallery, London. ).
[31] Heinrich Schwarz, 'The Mirror in Art. ', Art Quarterly, XV, 1952, pp. 104.
[32] For further example, see the discussion of Jan Van Eyck's The Madonna with the Canon van der Paele in: David Carter, "Reflections in the Armour of the Canon van der Paele Madonna", The Art Bulletin, XXXVI, 1954, pp. 60-62.
[33] Attributed to Konrad Witz, Maria with the infant Christ, (Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett. ).
[34] Honorius Augustodunensis, Expositio in Cantica Canticorum, MS Vienna, lat. 942, (Östereichische Nationalbibliothek. ).
[35] Reproductions showing relevant details in: Jonathon Miller, On Reflection, catalogue accompanying the exhibition Mirror Image: Jonathon Miller on Reflection at the National Gallery, London, 1998, pp. 38-39.
[36] Ibid.
[37] Reproductions showing relevant details in: Ibid. , p. 40.
Bibliography
Primary sources
Brant, Sebastian, Das Narrenshiff, transcript. Karl Goedete, Leipzig, 1872.
Jacopo da Varagine, Mariale: siue sermones de beata Maria virgine, Venice, 1497, (British Library IA:24646).
Jan van Ruusbroec, 'The Sparkling Stone' , from The Adornment of the Spiritual Marriage, The Sparkling Stone, The Book of Supreme Truth, trans. C. A. Wyschenk Dom, ed. Evelyn Underhill, London, 1951.
Lydgate, John, The Pilgrimage of the Life of Man: Englisht by John Lydgate A. D. 1426 from the French of Guillaume de Deguileville A. D. 1335, ed. F. J. Furnivall, London, 1901.
Nicholas of Cusa, Nikolaus von Kues: Werke, ed. Paul Wilpert, Berlin, 1967.
Nigel of Longchamps, 'Nigelli Speculum Stultorum', from Anglo-Latin Satirical Poets and Epigrammatists of the Twelfth Century, ed. T. Wright, London, 1872.
Richard of St Victor, 'The Way to Contemplation, a 14th century English translation' , in Late Medieval Mysticism, ed. R. C. Petry, London 1952.
Rolle de Hampole, Richard, The Pricke of Conscience ( Stimulus Conscientiae ), ed. Richard Morris, Berlin 1863.
Suso, Henry, The Exemplar, Life and Writings of the Blessed Henry Suso, O. P. , trans. Sister M. A. Edward, Iowa, 1962.
Secondary sources
Bertini Guidetti, S. , I Sermones di Jacopo da Varazze: Il potere delle immagini nel Duecento, 1998, Florence.
Carter, David, "Reflections in the Armour of the Canon van der Paele Madonna", The Art Bulletin, XXXVI, 1954.
Hartlaub, G. F. , Zauber des Spiegels: Geschichte und Bedeutung des Spiegels in der Kunst, Munich, 1951.
Leisegang, H. , 'Die Erkenntnis Gottes im Spiegel der Seele und Natur', Zeitschrift für Philosophische Forschung, IV, 1949-1950.
Meiss, M. , 'Light as form and symbol in some fifteenth-century paintings, Art Bulletin, 1945.
Miller, Jonathon, On Reflection, catalogue accompanying the exhibition Mirror Image: Jonathon Miller on Reflection at the National Gallery, London, 1998.
Nitz, G. , 'Spiegel', in Marienlexikon, vol. 6, Regensburg, 1994.
Richardson, E.C. , Materials for a Life of Jacopo de Voragine, New York, 1935, II/ III-IV.
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Author:
Rubymaya Jaeck-Woodgate is a graduate of the University of Sydney ( B.A. Hons I in Religious Studies and Art History) and has recently completed her Masters degree at the Warburg Institute, University of London ( M. A. in Intellectual and Cultural History 1300-1650) . Her other current projects involve the production of an edited transcription and translation of Francesco Patrizi da Chersos La Città Felice, and research into the background of the imaginative vocabulary of Nicholas of Cusas De visione Dei. She intends to continue to her doctorate next year at the University of Sydney, researching the illustrative scheme of several surviving manuscripts of Honorius Augustodunensis Expositio in Cantica Canticorum.
Email: jaeck21@hotmail.com
© Copyright is retained by the author
This article has been peer reviewed, and is deemed to meet the criteria for original research as set out by the Australian Government Department of Education, Science and Training.
