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5Раздел 3. Литература и материальная культура
УДК 069.5:659.1
NEW DECIPHERED AND UNDECIPHERED MEDIEVAL INSCRIPTIONS ON OBJECTS FROM GIRONA CITY MUSEUMS
Lea Friis Alsinger
Doctor of Hispanic Studies and of Humanities, Heritage and Culture
Girona (Spain) and Perpignan (France) Universities
52 avenue Paul Alduy, 66100, Perpignan, France, l.f.alsinger@gmail.com
My thesis [Friis Alsinger 2014] purpose was to constitute a corpus of epigraphic objects from Girona museums and dating from Middle Ages. All along my PhD work I've discovered some new inscriptions, obvious or not to see on the displayed pieces, and in several languages. Many of them had not be studied before, that's why this paper propounds a recompilation of these inscriptions, deciphered recently or still to be deciphered.
Key-words: inscriptions, medieval, museums.
Introduction
A recompilation of epigraphy in Girona area is in progress since few years [Cobos Fajardo/ Tremoleda Trilla 2009, 2010...], but I thought about doing a museum corpus of epigraphic objects, with a museological viewpoint.
Museums aims include research and communication around the Cultural items they displayed, but we can find out that many data lack, among them even some transcriptions of inscriptions, or mere translations.
That is why this investigation could be interesting in attempting to complete this aspect and to complete the more global epigraphic corpus, by example the one of the City of Girona, from the objects part this time, after the monumental aspect studied by Brigida Nono Rius [Nono Rius 2004].
Materials and Methods
The method was very basic, visiting museums and looking for each epigraphic object dated of or potentially from Middle Ages, photographing them and taking notes and drawing about the inscriptions and other data of their exhibitions, and afterwards from archive files, asking too for photos of archives, and at last looking for various levels of bibliography.
© Friis Alsinger L., 2015
To read the inscriptions of Palera box I attempt to play with light to read better or take photo to edit, but I didn't manage to read it although photos showed better the marks of inscriptions.
To translate continued inscriptions like the one of the Germanic box I looked for various possibilities of segments in the wiktionary (Collaborative project for creating a free lexical database in every language), and when I identified a possible German origin I asked for German language professors to help me.
Talking about translation and transcription of medieval inscriptions, a calligraphy aspect increases the difficulty, so much in the Latin context so as in the Arabic one.
Fortunately we can use comparisons; calligraphy models, and intertextu-ality help very much. It was the case especially for the Treasure Binding of Gospel Book completion and transcription. Internet is a very useful data base nowadays to find and compare the liturgical literary sources.
Results and Discussion
Here we present and discuss the research results gathered.
In the museum of the Cathedral Treasury of Girona, we have five objects with interesting reconsidered inscriptions.
The least rediscovery is some tiny words in medallions of the "Cross of the enamels" from the XIVth century, that I had spotted since I began my PhD work in 2009, and confirmed thanks to the museum curator Joan Pina Pedemonte and his assistant Gustavo A.T. Mendoza allowing watching the object out of display case and accepting to take specific photographs. This cross, with exhibition identification TCG 134, was crafted by Peter Bernes ca. 1358-1360, who contributed to the famous Silver altarpiece too. It has been part of various art books but without mentioning the repeated inscription on the obverse of the cross, in two enameled medallions: ECEFILI. It reminds the ECCE FILII which we can find in the Bible (Exodus 6:12) in Moses answer to God, but evoking the Christ here as in many manuscripts, like ECCE HOMO, insisting on his divine filiation.
Talking about tiny inscriptions, we also can mention one in the Altar Front of the life of Christ from the XIVth century, which is not very easy to read, in the second square from the left at the last line of small frames of the painted and embroidered fabric. It's the titulus above the figure of Christ on the cross. This object, identified as TCG 119, is from the Santa Maria church of Girona city, from unknown artist(s). It seems to be a IHS very stylized and could remind the Greek monogram for the name of Jesus or the Latin interpretation as IESUS HOMINUM SALVATOR, taken again after-
wards in Franciscans paintings or tokens of XVth century or Jesuits order as emblem.
We have another epigraphic object with many inscriptions which had not transcriptions in archive files before our PhD study: Bindings of Gospel Book from the XVth century.
Identified as TCG34 we don't know anything about this double part object except its mention in an inventory of 1478.
It presents some lacks in the inscription divided into segments not corresponding to the words, and some abbreviations too.
Here, intertextuality has helped to read and to complete the inscription.
This is our epigraphic transcription: IHS | INRI | D(eus) | HOMO | FACTU|S EST| MISE|RERE| NOBIS| (Christus)| REX| UEN|IT IN| PACE
MRA | IAM| SOL R|ECE DI|T I(gneus)| O | [[lux]] | BEATA | [t]R[i]| N[i]TAS| ET PRI|NCI|P[a]LIS | UNITA|S So the text of the two parts of this object means:
IHS - INRI - Deus homo factus est miserere nobis Christus rex venit in pace
MRA - iam Sol recedit igneus - o lux beata trinitas etprincipalis unitas
We find here the usual Christian nomina sacra IHS yet mentioned and INRI (Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudeorum) and MRA (without doubt for Maria), less used, with a kind of omega letter above.
We can connect these words with Psalms and the New Testament and we can link the second inscription to a hymn to St. Ambrose (340-397) for the Vespers of Sunday for the second and fourth weeks of the Psalter in the Liturgy of the Hours [Catholic Book Publishing Corp 1980]. This hymn appears in the Roman Breviary [Ulysse 1891] under the title Iam sol recedit igneus.
Last object we mention here from the museum of Cathedral Treasury might be the most important epigraphic discovery of my PhD work in this museum: a Germanic Casket (probably) from XIVth century.
It had the number 0077 of exhibition, with no more information than its dimensions and materials.
I saw it has inscriptions since the beginning of my study and I got an archive photo to work on it, but I faced difficulties, no one had worked on before, so we didn't have any bibliography or data about its provenance or whatever else. The continued writing and the calligraphy style increased the challenge and I contacted specialists who didn't answer during years. Thanks to the wiktionary it seemed to be Norse or German but not in modern language and a professor of German studies, Pr Leiberich, of the University of Perpignan, confirmed it was medieval dialectal writing. He con-
tacted colleagues too who didn't answer no more. I supposed, since illustration element (and absence of others) and possible functions of object since its shape, that it could be something linked to a marriage compromise and wishes of durability and I defended my thesis with this. Here was my transcription: M[---] MOCHT<>ICH<>ALLE[—]
Luckily, after the PhD defense, one member of my thesis committee gave me the contact of a Germanist colleague, Pr Victor Millet from Santiago de Compostela University, who managed to read and propose a transcription of the inscription. Moreover, he said that we find various other objects with similar type of inscriptions. Here it is its proposition:
MYN<>ALDER<>LEWESTEIVROWELYN<>MOCIHT<>ICH<>AL LE<>TYDIBY<>DYR<>SYN
It could be translated as something like "my beloved lady, I hope I always can be with you", and I was glad to see my hypothesis validated, so.
At last, an Arabic style seal from XIth century attributed to a Christian countess has got an imitation of Arabic inscription; books have described it as Arabic inscription (without translation) but letters are not Arabic letters. This PhD work also highlights this aspect. It reminds the more recent "coufesque" style.
Located into the Cathedral itself, out of the museum of Treasury, and still talking about inscriptions without transcriptions, we highlight some painted characters between illustration and writing, on the Silver altarpiece from the XIVth century. This huge object has the identification CG 223 and several known artists among them the one who is mentioned onto the object and who worked on a previously quoted object here. It has been often mentioned in art books and all inscriptions are quite easy to read except that ones on a side, who seem to be abbreviations and maybe mere illustrations. We put pictures of them here.
In other museum of Girona, the Museum of Art (MdA), there are others epigraphic objects which deserved to be reconsidered.
In this museum, the Virgin of Pontos from the XVth century (n°130.753) presents a very obvious inscription, a latin one, but quite difficult to understand. Neither bibliography nor transcription in archive files
can help. We propose a transcription, but without certainty as: AVE (MA)R(IA)EST(M)[[ ]]APIA.
On the mamelouk bowl of between XIIIth and XVth centuries (131.166) we can see three arabic inscriptions but just one has been deciphered by Isber Sabrine according to museum files, recently, « Bab Aljana Aladl", which means "the door of Paradise is Justice". So it still remains two inscriptions to be deciphered...
Another item, Lipsanotheque de Palera from the XIIth century (MD 78) was a totally unnoticed epigraphic object, which could deserve to be included in the catalog of Catalunya Romanica XXIII [Vigue 1988]. I saw it has inscriptions since the beginning of my PhD work too, seeing it through the window of the display case, but I could observe it out of it in May of 2014 with the museum curator help. We got photographs by the protocol way but they were too lighted and didn't help us to read or to transcript the inscriptions. It has no bibliography too before my PhD work and this paper.
I count on the cover 9 lines of characters who seem Latin ones. A space followed by a character that perhaps resembles the letter [s] starting a name can refer to the upper left of the object.
Nevertheless, on the underside of the lid, we distinguish two lines of characters rather Semitic and even maybe Arabic, perpendicularly to the lines of the obverse cover.
The cover is not the only written part. There are also lines on both sides and two edges around the lid. On the left side we distinguish two lines, where we might recognize the Catalan word "li", but it is not a certain reading. If this is confirmed, it can also be a subsequent inclusion in Catalan as one can find on other objects. On the right side, there are three lines maybe even harder to read, with a character that looks like a 9. Around the edges of the cover, engraved lines may be only etchings, not writings.
Anyway, the characters do not have a neat calligraphy, like many works of the early Middle Ages. This seems to confirm the high medieval appearance and let also imagine that it was rather to contain the relics of a local saint in a rural location.
However, the length of the text on the top lid can make suppose that it contained an indication of the use of the object, possibly the name of the saint whose relics he closed; but with such a rustic engraving, probably not those of artisans of the object. All this reinforces the idea of reuse and so, of maybe double context of inscriptions and why not two languages (or more).
So I just can bring hypothesis and these sure inscriptions are still to be revealed with better pictures -and deciphered.
We also have suspicious inscriptions in a few objects of this museum.
For example, a bowl (cat. 91-98) presents the inscription drawn here:
•je-V^a z<x7S 11> : ç i c&yiAist o/e/a )az/>.
It's difficult to judge if that is a writing linked to a language or just a drawing; maybe it's just a pseudo-epigraphic ceramic and maybe not medieval.
In Hispano-Arabic style plate and bowl from between XIIIth and
XIVth centuries (n°26.631 and 26.632), we find another time inscriptions
which can be pseudo-epigraphic:
Both pieces show this inscription and both come from excavations near Palma de Mallorca. It seems to be a mirror writing reminding letters.
Conclusion
It's really a chance to discover and to manage to decipher or to make decipher by someone else some inscriptions and I imagine a lot of researchers dream about that especially in our area of Literature and History of Art. Apart of the exciting aspect, all these inscriptions, rediscovered or highlighted allow to complete a little our knowledge about medieval corpus in general, and more specifically, archives and communication from Museums. However, many are to be continued to analyze, because many keep shadows parts, from ambiguities or partial lacks to total uncertainty.
My PhD work is now finished but I hope some specialists will deepen the remaining mysteries of this epigraphic corpus.
Chevalier Ulysse. Le bréviaire romain et sa dernière édition type, Lyon, E. Vitte, 1891, disponible en ligne par la Bibliothèque nationale de France, département Littérature et art, 8-Z 9553 (6). URL : http://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb31940219v (Date de mise en ligne : 15/10/2007).
Cobos FajardoA., Tremoleda Trilla J. L'Epigrafia medieval dels comtats gironins. I El comtat de Peralada. Figueres: Brau, 2009. 214 p.
Cobos FajardoA., Tremoleda Trilla J. L'Epigrafia medieval dels comtats gironins. II El comtat d'Empùries. Figueres: Brau, 2010. 225 p.
Friis Alsinger L. Les objets inscrits supports de communication : corpus mobilier médiéval exposé dans les musées de la ville de Gérone, Perpignan & Girona, Université de Perpignan, Universitat de Girona, 2014; URL: http://tdcat.cbuc.es/handle/10803/288215.
Literature cited
Liturgy of the Hours: Ordinary Time, Weeks 1-17 Leather Bound -October 1,Totowa : Catholic Book Publishing Corp, 1980. 2016 p.
Nonó Rius B. Aquí Es Redacten I S'Esculpeixen Inscripcions. Girona, Universitat De Girona, 2004. URL: http://dugi-doc.udg.edu/bitstream han-dle/10256/787/CorpusEpigr%C3%A0ficGirona.pdf?sequence=1.
Vigué J. [et al.] Catalunya Románica XXXIII. Barcelona: Enciclopedia catalane, 1988.
НОВЫЕ РАСШИФРОВАННЫЕ И НЕРАСШИФРОВАННЫЕ
НАДПИСИ НА ЭКСПОНАТАХ ЭПОХИ СРЕДНИХ ВЕКОВ ИЗ МУЗЕЕВ ГОРОДА ЖИРОНЫ
Леа Фриис Алсингер
доктор испанистики
Университеты Жироны (Испания) и Перпиньяна (Франция) 52 avenue Paul Alduy, 66100, Perpignan, France, l.f.alsinger@gmail.com
Цель исследования [Friis Alsinger 2014] состоит в изучении экспонатов музеев Жироны - предметов с надписями, относящимся к эпохе Средних веков. В процессе работы над диссертацией были открыты новые, видимые и тайные надписи на предметах на разных языках. Ога^я предлагает анализ этих надписей (как расшифрованных нами недавно, так и не расшифрованных до сих пор), поскольку ранее они не изучались.
Ключевые слова: надписи на предметах, средневековый, музеи.
