by Jon Lackman | 13 February 2008 | Medieval
From The Johns Hopkins University Gazette:
Grants of $779,000 from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation will allow The Johns Hopkins University and the Bibliotheque Nationale de France to provide scholars with virtual access to more than half the known versions of Le Roman de la Rose, a medieval poem on the art of love that was the most-read work of French literature for hundreds of years …
The poet’s frank language inspired artists of some manuscripts to paint highly erotic images, provoking horrified responses and sparking a controversy that continued throughout much of the period. Christine de Pisan, one of the leading poets of the 15th century and an adviser to the queen of France, led one of the most spirited denunciations of the Rose. Her critique of the poem as anti-feminist has been echoed by some modern scholars.
“Rose scholarship has long focused on a few manuscripts available in Paris,” said Stephen Nichols, James M. Beall Professor of French and Humanities at Johns Hopkins and co-director of the project. “The idea was to study the text of the work but not the colorful and informative paintings found on many manuscript pages.
“Access to a wide variety of manuscripts produced over a period of 250 years will now allow scholars to study the paintings and poetry together, as well as revealing evolving styles of manuscript painting and linguistic change,” Nichols said.
