20-07-2021, 11:05 PM
The concept of apophatic thought was new to me, but I am interested since, as others have remarked, the VM stands out for things it is missing.
My first impressions though, and again I am only starting to learn about this concept, is that apophatic writing is often philosophical: we cannot comprehend what God is, but it may be easier to say what he certainly isn't. But it doesn't entail any prohibitions: you can depict Jesus to help your imagination, but know that this image will be imperfect.
The Rothschild Canticles is a famous example of an apophatic work. It quite literally shows that God is hidden and tries to visualize complex apophatic metaphors, but at the same time the faces and bodies of the members of the Trinity are often depicted. It uses images of God and Jesus to talk about how unknowable they are.
So one complicating factor is that apophatic imagery gladly depicts Jesus. Another is that the VM also omits certain other, more "earthly" things, like farmers, furniture, recognizable tools... There are hundreds of human figures in the MS, but because these are like souls, the visual vocabulary is limited and many things we would expect in a medieval manuscript with such a wealth of figures are missing.
Now on the other hand, what the Rothschild Canticles does use is a limited set of symbols, for example a sun stands for Jesus. This is something we do recognize from the VM, so there may definitely be an apophatic link. But I would first like to know more about the actual medieval practice before adding wild speculation about the VM.
My first impressions though, and again I am only starting to learn about this concept, is that apophatic writing is often philosophical: we cannot comprehend what God is, but it may be easier to say what he certainly isn't. But it doesn't entail any prohibitions: you can depict Jesus to help your imagination, but know that this image will be imperfect.
The Rothschild Canticles is a famous example of an apophatic work. It quite literally shows that God is hidden and tries to visualize complex apophatic metaphors, but at the same time the faces and bodies of the members of the Trinity are often depicted. It uses images of God and Jesus to talk about how unknowable they are.
So one complicating factor is that apophatic imagery gladly depicts Jesus. Another is that the VM also omits certain other, more "earthly" things, like farmers, furniture, recognizable tools... There are hundreds of human figures in the MS, but because these are like souls, the visual vocabulary is limited and many things we would expect in a medieval manuscript with such a wealth of figures are missing.
Now on the other hand, what the Rothschild Canticles does use is a limited set of symbols, for example a sun stands for Jesus. This is something we do recognize from the VM, so there may definitely be an apophatic link. But I would first like to know more about the actual medieval practice before adding wild speculation about the VM.