Petrus Berchoius and the ancient myth in the 14th century

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Dieter Blume
• Subject Area: Art History
• Term: from 2020 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 455968118

The planned publication analyzes the examination of and the debate on the ancient myth in the 14th century and developes a completly new basis for the understandig of this important phenomenon. The world of gods and heroes in the Roman poetry at that time was related to one’s own world and developed into a reference system that was to prevail throughout modern times. The starting point ist the edition, translation and analysis oft he so-called Ovidius moralizatus by Petrus Berchorius, which was previously only accessible in a revised and completely inadequate print of 1509. This allegorical interpretation of Ovid’s Metamorphoses, written around 1340 in Avignon, is one of the most successful writings in the 14th and 15th century; it is still preserved today in c. 80 manuscripts. The ancient myth corpus of Ovid is attributed a hidden meaning here and in this way the Bible and myth are brought together in the medium of allegoresis. Berchorius offers a variety of interpretations, which call for both positive and negative examples and refer in large measure to the contemporary, life-wordly experience. In doing so, he breaks new ground and consistently uses allegoresis as a literary-rhetorical technique adapted from theological hermeneutics. Fort he first time a central text on the reception of ancient myths in the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance is thus made accessible for research of the variuos historical disciplines. The treatise of Berchorius is received immediately in Italy and is also provided with highly unusual illustrations. For the Milanese nobleman Bruzio Visconti, whose literary interests are well documented, a miniature cycle was compiled in Bologna in 1348 that brought the process of transformation into the focus of attention and also revealed a strong interest in nature. (Gotha, Forschungsbiliothek Membr. I 98) These spectacular images are being systematically analyzed here for the first time. The drawings in a further codex (Bergamo, Biblioteca Civica, Ms. Cassaforte 3.4), which according to our new dating was created already c. 1360, are presumably made by layman and proves once again the great resonance that this new interpretation of Ovid’s Metamorphoses has received in the intellectual circles oft he Upper Italian cities. According to the descriptions of Berchorius, a new iconography oft he ancient gods was developed around 1350, which at that time radiated widely, but today can only grasped in a few examples. A concluding chapter places the treatise of Berchorius in the context of the numerous efforts that were then devoted tp the ancient myth, including the names of Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio. Despite their diversity, all these efforts connect the myth with familar areas of knowledge and contemporry experiences.

• DFG Programme: Publication Grants