Folio 93v Commentary

Previous - Translation & Transcription - Next

f93 v Text: The etymology of death. Of fire-bearing stones. This account is from Physiologus. The descriptive text is on Folio 94r. Illustration: Fire-bearing stones are male and female. When they are apart the fire does not ignite, when close together, the mountain burns. The warning is for men to stay clear of women and avoid kindling lust. A literal illustration of the text only requires a picture of stones, as shown in London, B.L.Harley MS 3244, f60, but the arrangement of the figures and tree is intended to suggest the Fall in the Garden of Eden. There are colour indications: aerie or harie (blue) at the base of the upper marginal sketch(Clark reads this as mine for minium, red); in the upper sketch bisors,(grey) . Minute differences between the sketch in the margin and the painted Aberdeen version provide a crucial link with the Ashmolean Bestiary and they also provide clues about workshop practice. The illustration in detail Detail of the sketch