A Saving Science by Ramírez-Weaver Eric M

Author:Ramírez-Weaver, Eric M.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pennsylvania State University Press

FIGURE 64

Jacob and the Lion of Judah. Bern Physiologus, Burgerbibliothek Bern, Cod. 318, fol. 7r. Photo: Codices Electronici AG, www.e-codices.ch.

FIGURE 65

Jealous and lovesick bulls. The Vatican Vergil, Georgics, Rome, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. lat. 3225, fol. 5v. Photo © 2017 Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana. Reproduced by permission of Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, with all rights reserved.

The first, blue horse pulling the chariot of Auriga on folio 57r of Drogo’s copy (plate 6) resembles the general outline of the horse in the Bern Physiologus on folio 22r (fig. 67). On folio 22r, the depiction is of the “Caballus/Horse for Riding,” representing one of the varieties of steeds described in Isidore of Seville’s Etymologies, book XII.1.42–43, that was excerpted and added to the type C redaction of the Physiologus text after roughly the mid-seventh century.110 The pose and arrangement of the legs for each of the galloping steeds are nearly identical, although compared with Drogo’s copy of the Handbook of 809, the horse in the Bern Physiologus reverses the left-right orientation of the horse’s hind legs.

There is also a connection between the image of Serpens in Drogo’s copy (Madrid 3307) on folio 54v (plate 1) and the unframed miniature showing the fourth nature of the Serpent in the Bern Physiologus on folio 12v (fig. 68). In both of these unframed miniatures, the three-color tonal treatment of the scaly flesh adds a sense of texture and verisimilitude. The mottled stippling suggests the radiant effects of light splaying across a snake’s scales. This was also the technique used later to create the serpent in the gospel-author portrait of John from a gospel book made for Drogo mentioned in chapter 1 (Paris, MS lat. 9388, fol. 150v; fig. 34). A related technique was adapted to the small scale of the historiated initial O from the Drogo Sacramentary on folio 43v (fig. 48). There, a coiling serpent writhes in anguish at the foot of the cross. The similar painterly technique used for each of these images casts light on workshop practices in Metz and Reims during the ninth century—or at least on the artists who worked in both cities.

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