DOI Artikel:
Musialik, Elżbieta: A 14th-century ivory casket with scenes from medieval romances: the newest addition to the so-called coffrets composites group
Zitierlink:https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/fha2022/0020
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11. Attack on the Castle of Love with wild men, lid of the casket, Paris (?), 1st quarter of the 14th c. (?), later mounts. Private collection. Phot.
Lyon & Turnbull Edinburgh
and knightship were often blurry.38 The wild man became
quite a popular motif in art from the beginning of the
14th century and was portrayed in widely different media,
from decorative drôleries in the margins of illuminated
manuscripts, enamels, and ivories to cathedral sculpture.
The character of the wild man has most likely an ancient
origin39 and appeared simultaneously in western and east-
ern culture and folklore.40 According to various ancient
and medieval sources, the wild man could change his ap-
pearance (though he was always hairy), and he lived in
seclusion, often in the woods or mountains, hiding in
caves. His main traits were unstoppable lust and aggres-
siveness.41 However, he was a friend of nature and pos-
sessed a considerable amount of knowledge unknown to
humanity, therefore he also became a desirable subject of
study by medieval scholars and alchemists.42
38 R. Bernheimer, Wild Men in the Middle Ages, p. 18 (as in note 34).
39 Most notable examples are King Nebuchadnezzar, who was cast
among the beasts, and Enkidu, a friend of the Babylonian hero
Gilgamesh, see: W.L. Moran, ‘Ovids Blanda Voluptas and the
Humanization of Enkidu’, Journal of Near Eastern Studies, 50,
1991, pp. 121-27.
40 A.O.H. Jarman, ‘The Merlin Legend and the Welsh Tradition of
Prophecy’, in The Arthur of the Welsh. The Arthurian Legend in
Medieval Welsh literature, eds. A.O.H. Jarman et. al., Cardiff, 1991,
pp. 117-45, see also: D. A. Wells, The Wild Man from the Epic of
Gilgamesh to Hartmann von Aues Iwein, Belfast, 1975.
41 G. Mobley, ‘The Wild Man in the Bible and the Ancient Near
East’, Journal of Biblical Literature, 116,1997, no. 2, pp. 218-219.
42 R. Bernheimer, Wild Men in the Middle Ages, pp. 9,10, 25, 26,121
(as in note 34).
From at least the 13th century, wild men were most of-
ten depicted abducting a lady, and almost always com-
peting with a human suitor. Most likely for the first time,
a lady kidnapped by a wild man appears in the German
poem Diu Crône (ca. 1220), and later e.g., in Antonio Puc-
cis Arthurian epic Gismirante (ca. 1350).43 In the second
story, Gismirantes lover is abducted by the wild man and
held captive in his castle in the woods; she is forced to
accompany her kidnapper, while she waits for the knight
to rescue her.44 Similar themes were illustrated in differ-
ent media, including ivory.45 The scene most often por-
trayed in the gothic ivories was the story of an old knight,
Enyas, fighting with a wild man for a maidens honour
[Fig. 12].46 The story is known only from one surviving
example, which was written in the margin of the so-called
Taymouth Hours.47 The text says, Ci uient enyas vn viel
chiualer et rescout la damoysele (Here comes Enyas, an old
knight, and rescues the damsel). It is most likely that an
original, longer romance of Enyas existed and was popular
43 M. Bendinelli Predelli, Two cantari by Antonio Pucci, https://
www.academia.edu/34o4353o/Two_cantari_by_Antonio_Pucci_.
pdf (last modified 13 April 2022), see also: eadem, Arthurian Ma-
terial in Italian Cantari’, in The Arthur of the Italians: The Arthu-
rian Legend in Medieval Italian Literature and Culture, eds. G. Al-
laire, ER. Psaki, Cardiff, 2014, pp. 105-120.
44 R. Bernheimer, Wild Men in the Middle Ages, p. 126 (as in
note 34).
45 Wild men were often depicted on the German Minnekästchen -
small wedding caskets made mostly of wood.
46 R.S. Loomis, A Phantom Tale of Female Ingratitude’, Modern Phi-
lology, 14,1917, no. 12, pp. 750-755.
47 London, The British Library, Yates Thompson MS 12, 63 r.
11. Attack on the Castle of Love with wild men, lid of the casket, Paris (?), 1st quarter of the 14th c. (?), later mounts. Private collection. Phot.
Lyon & Turnbull Edinburgh
and knightship were often blurry.38 The wild man became
quite a popular motif in art from the beginning of the
14th century and was portrayed in widely different media,
from decorative drôleries in the margins of illuminated
manuscripts, enamels, and ivories to cathedral sculpture.
The character of the wild man has most likely an ancient
origin39 and appeared simultaneously in western and east-
ern culture and folklore.40 According to various ancient
and medieval sources, the wild man could change his ap-
pearance (though he was always hairy), and he lived in
seclusion, often in the woods or mountains, hiding in
caves. His main traits were unstoppable lust and aggres-
siveness.41 However, he was a friend of nature and pos-
sessed a considerable amount of knowledge unknown to
humanity, therefore he also became a desirable subject of
study by medieval scholars and alchemists.42
38 R. Bernheimer, Wild Men in the Middle Ages, p. 18 (as in note 34).
39 Most notable examples are King Nebuchadnezzar, who was cast
among the beasts, and Enkidu, a friend of the Babylonian hero
Gilgamesh, see: W.L. Moran, ‘Ovids Blanda Voluptas and the
Humanization of Enkidu’, Journal of Near Eastern Studies, 50,
1991, pp. 121-27.
40 A.O.H. Jarman, ‘The Merlin Legend and the Welsh Tradition of
Prophecy’, in The Arthur of the Welsh. The Arthurian Legend in
Medieval Welsh literature, eds. A.O.H. Jarman et. al., Cardiff, 1991,
pp. 117-45, see also: D. A. Wells, The Wild Man from the Epic of
Gilgamesh to Hartmann von Aues Iwein, Belfast, 1975.
41 G. Mobley, ‘The Wild Man in the Bible and the Ancient Near
East’, Journal of Biblical Literature, 116,1997, no. 2, pp. 218-219.
42 R. Bernheimer, Wild Men in the Middle Ages, pp. 9,10, 25, 26,121
(as in note 34).
From at least the 13th century, wild men were most of-
ten depicted abducting a lady, and almost always com-
peting with a human suitor. Most likely for the first time,
a lady kidnapped by a wild man appears in the German
poem Diu Crône (ca. 1220), and later e.g., in Antonio Puc-
cis Arthurian epic Gismirante (ca. 1350).43 In the second
story, Gismirantes lover is abducted by the wild man and
held captive in his castle in the woods; she is forced to
accompany her kidnapper, while she waits for the knight
to rescue her.44 Similar themes were illustrated in differ-
ent media, including ivory.45 The scene most often por-
trayed in the gothic ivories was the story of an old knight,
Enyas, fighting with a wild man for a maidens honour
[Fig. 12].46 The story is known only from one surviving
example, which was written in the margin of the so-called
Taymouth Hours.47 The text says, Ci uient enyas vn viel
chiualer et rescout la damoysele (Here comes Enyas, an old
knight, and rescues the damsel). It is most likely that an
original, longer romance of Enyas existed and was popular
43 M. Bendinelli Predelli, Two cantari by Antonio Pucci, https://
www.academia.edu/34o4353o/Two_cantari_by_Antonio_Pucci_.
pdf (last modified 13 April 2022), see also: eadem, Arthurian Ma-
terial in Italian Cantari’, in The Arthur of the Italians: The Arthu-
rian Legend in Medieval Italian Literature and Culture, eds. G. Al-
laire, ER. Psaki, Cardiff, 2014, pp. 105-120.
44 R. Bernheimer, Wild Men in the Middle Ages, p. 126 (as in
note 34).
45 Wild men were often depicted on the German Minnekästchen -
small wedding caskets made mostly of wood.
46 R.S. Loomis, A Phantom Tale of Female Ingratitude’, Modern Phi-
lology, 14,1917, no. 12, pp. 750-755.
47 London, The British Library, Yates Thompson MS 12, 63 r.