The Art of Healing: Painting for the Sick and the Sinner in a Medieval Town

303 Pages·2003·21.58 MB·English

by  Marcia A. Kupfer

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the art of healing
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Image not available
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m a r c i a k u p f e r
ART
e
h
t
of healing
painting for the sick and the sinner
in a medieval town
the pennsylvania state university press
university park, pennsylvania
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Disclaimer:
Some images in the original version of this book are not
available for inclusion in the eBook.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Kupfer,Marcia A.(Marcia Ann)
The art of healing :painting for the sick and the sinner in a medieval town /
Marcia Kupfer.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN ---(cloth :alk.paper)
.Medicine and art—France—St.Aignan. .Healing in art. .Miracles in art.
.Aegidius,Saint,Abbot—Art. .Mural painting and decoration,Romanesque—
France—St.Aignan. .Mural painting and decoration,French—France—St.Aignan.
.Christian art and symbolism—Medieval,‒—France—St.Aignan.
.Collâegiale de St.Aignan (St.Aignan,France). .Medicine,Medieval—
France—St.Aignan. .St.Aignan (France)—Social life and customs.
I.Title.
N.K 
'.'—dc 
Copyright © The Pennsylvania State University
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States ofAmerica
Published by The Pennsylvania State University Press,
University Park,PA -
It is the policy ofThe Pennsylvania State University Press to use acid-free paper.
Publications on uncoated stock satisfy the minimum requirements ofAmerican National
Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Material,
ANSI Z.–.
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for my children,
IRA and GABRIELLE
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contents
list of illustrations ix
acknowledgments xv
list of abbreviations xvii
introduction: “confess your sins” 1
part i the medieval site
1 from castle to town 11
Inside the Painted Crypt
Oppidumand Parish
Lord and Borough
2 chapels, hospitals, and healing cults 27
Chapels
The Leprosery
The Maison-Dieu
The Porticus of Noyers
3 from spatialized body to painted crypt 47
Saint Silvanus’s Fire
Local Cults:An Epidemiological Basis?
Local Cults:A System of Representation
Images and the Recapture ofTherapeutic Powers
part ii the collegiate church
4 the architectural framework: spatial
disjunction, social displacement 67
Architectural Design and Building Chronology
The Crypt Redefined
Pilgrimage as Penance
vii
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5 the paintings: the saints in the crypt 85
The Apsidal Theophany and the Altar of Saint James
The South Chapel:The Life of Saint Giles
The Axial Chapel:Lazarus,Mary Magdalen,and Martha
From Micro- to Macrocosm
Pictorial Resonance,Programmatic Texture
6 image and audience: infirmity, charity,
and penance in the community 113
Exchange and Mediation
Gender Roles,Body Politics
Infirmity as Social Boundary
conclusion: the art of healing 149
epilogue: the late medieval paintings 153
notes 159
bibliography 183
index 197
illustrations 203
viii
CONTENTS
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illustrations
Unless otherwise indicated,the photographs pertain to the church of Saint-Aignan-sur-Cher.
 Map of the region indicating sites  Pilgrim and figure crawling with
relevant to the study. crutches (photo:author).
 Saint-Aignan-sur-Cher (Loir-et-  Detail of figure crawling with
Cher),aerial view (photo:R.
crutches (photo:author).
Malnoury,© Inventaire général,
adagp).  Kneeling petitioner (photo:
 Collegiate church and castle author).
(postmedieval structure) from the  Detail of coin offered by pilgrim
north (photo:author).
(photo:author).
 Upper church,interior view of
 View into south apsidiole:life of
nave toward apse (photo:author).
Saint Giles (Arch.Phot.© Centre
 Upper church,plan,J.-B.Lassus,
des monuments nationaux,Paris).
c.(Arch.Phot.© Centre des
monuments nationaux,Paris).  South apsidiole,base of conch
 Crypt,plan,J.-B.Lassus,c. vault:Saint Giles clothes and heals
(Arch.Phot.© Centre des monu- a beggar;he drives out venom
ments nationaux,Paris). from a man bitten by a serpent
 Crypt,apse,central portion of (photo:author).
hemicycle wall and semidome,  South apsidiole,hemicycle wall:
Christ enthroned between Saints
Miraculous Mass of Saint Giles,or
Peter and James with supplicants,c.
the Pardon of Charlemagne (Arch.
(photo:author).
Phot.© Centre des monuments
 Saint James and kneeling petitioner
nationaux,Paris).
(photo:author).
 Miraculous Mass,sketch.
 Saint Peter receives keys from
Christ and blesses pilgrim who  View into the axial apsidiole:
offers a coin (photo:author). Raising of Lazarus (Arch.Phot.©
 Detail of Saint Peter,inscription Centre des monuments nationaux,
petrus (photo:author). Paris).
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