He Set Her on the Third Step of the Altar. The Iconography of Mary’s Presentation to the Temple in Manuscript Illuminations of the Speculum humanae salvationis

Ovo istraživanje usredotočuje se na ikonografsku konstrukciju Marijina prikazanja u Hramu u odnosu prema vizualnim prikazima Kristova prikazanja. Studija prikazuje ilustraciju tog događaja unutar Hrama kako je prikazan na tri francuske rukopisne iluminacije iz razdoblja od 14. do 16. stoljeća u rukopisu Speculum humanae salvationis, koji prikazuju Mariju na oltaru okrunjenu i sa svijetlećim nimbusom. Prvo će se predstaviti tekstualni izvori vezani za narativ o Marijinu i Kristovu prikazanju u Hramu i kontekst slavljenja njihovih blagdana, a potom će se raspraviti i usporediti konstrukcije oltara, likovi i geste kako se reflektiraju u oba slučaja. Istra živanje se zaključuje s upotrebom zajedničkih ikonografskih obrazaca.
This investigation focuses on the iconographic construction of Mary’s Presentation to the Temple in relation to visual depictions of Christ’s Presentation. In tracing this, the research presents the illustration of the event, inside the Temple, as reflected in three fourteenth-to-sixteenth-century French manuscript illuminations of the Speculum humanae salvationis which depict a crowned and nimbed Mary on an altar. The analysis builds on the argument of Jacqueline Lafontaine-Dosogne that Mary’s Presentation is visually modelled on that of Christ’s, an assertion that needs further demonstration. In a first instance, the author elaborates on presenting the textual sources with regard to the narrative on the Virgin’s and Christ’s presentation to the Temple, the contexts of the celebration of their feasts, and, then, discusses and compares the constructions of the altar, characters, and gestures as reflected in both of these cases. The research concludes with the use of a common iconographic pattern.