Maizuls M. Laughter as an Instrument of Violence in the Visual Imagery of the Passions of Christ (14–16 cc.) [Digital resource] // Vox medii aevi. 2021. Vol. 2(9). P. 147–190. URL: https://voxmediiaevi.com/2021-2-maizuls/
DOI: 10.24412/2587-6619-2021-2-147-190
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Mikhail Maizuls
Candidate of Sciences (History), Research Fellow of the Center for Visual Studies in Medieval and Early Modern Culture, Russian State University for Humanities
maizuls@gmail.com
Laughter as an Instrument of Violence in the Visual Imagery of the Passions of Christ (14–16 cc.)
Physical agression in the late medieval Passions’ imagery (the latter often setting an example of attitude towards jews and other people of different faith) is always rooted in laughter. Torturers and executioners of Christ show him plenty of aggressive, mocking and obscene ges tures, some of such characters are dressed as clowns, but such imagery only starts to appear after 13th century. This paper traces back the sources (passion treaties, mystery plays, architectural and book marginalia) and ways by which these motifs were transferred to visual narrative. The author finds visual parallels, that allow to compare Christ’s torture to a game, and analyses semantics of gestures and grimaces, including tongue stuck out and mouth stretched.
Keywords: demons; gestures; iconography; laughter; marginalia; obscene; Passions of Christ.