Papers by Greti Dinkova-Bruun
This article presents a study and an edition of the anonymous poem Versus de historia euangelica ... more This article presents a study and an edition of the anonymous poem Versus de historia euangelica that relates in 288 Leonine hexameters the story of Christ’s birth, public ministry, and crucifixion. Because of the contradictory and repetitive nature of the Gospel narratives, the poet follows the organization of the biblical material observed in Peter Comestor’s Historia scholastica, whose completion in 1173 establishes the general terminus post quem for the composition of the poem. The style of the Versus can be called epigrammatic. In fact, the entire poem reads like a collection of short, independent tituli which could be removed from the present context and used as captions for appropriate figurative representations.
This chapter explores one relatively understudied facet in the complex reception history of Josep... more This chapter explores one relatively understudied facet in the complex reception history of Josephus's Latin Bellum, namely, the poetic engagement with Josephus's narrative. The context, sources, and particular characteristics of three Latin poems are discussed: the hagiographical epic De triumphis Christi of Flodoard of Reims (893/894-966); the De septem libris Iosephi of Geoffrey, Abbot of the Templum Domini (d. 1160); and the anonymous De excidio urbis Ierosolimorum, which was incorporated in the thirteenth century into three copies of Peter Riga's famous Bible in verse, the Aurora. Written in different times and even using different meters, these poetic Josephan accounts do not exhibit any intertextual connections; however, they all show great familiarity with their source and remarkable literary ambition.
Vivarium, 2021
This article presents a study and a critical edition of the short anonymous treatise on the rainb... more This article presents a study and a critical edition of the short anonymous treatise on the rainbow starting with the incipit Inter omnes impressiones. The text was known to Nicole Oresme who engages with it twice: in his Questiones in Meteorologica de prima lectura and in Le livre du ciel et du monde. This Tractatus de iride, previously unknown to scholars, is transmitted in three late thirteenth-century manuscripts. It uses Robert Grosseteste’s theories of the rainbow as caused by the refraction of sunlight and of colour as light incorporated in aereal particles. However, contrary to Grosseteste, the Tractatus de iride adopts the idea of different degrees of incorporation of light, which is also found in the scientific writings by Adam of Exeter, a Franciscan scholar belonging to the same Oxonian circle as Grosseteste. Moreover, the Tractatus de iride develops original propositions in regard to the role of individual raindrops, the importance of the angle from which the rainbow is...
This article offers a detailed description of both the contents and the complex codicological rea... more This article offers a detailed description of both the contents and the complex codicological reality found in the composite manuscript Engelberg 117. A scribal colophon asserts that the manuscript was written in 1203 but the
present state of the codex as well as the various late Gothic hands seen in it belies this date. In fact, this thoroughly remodeled copy of Peter Riga’s Aurora was probably produced in the late thirteenth-early fourteenth century. In addition to other previously unattested poetry, the codex contains an anonymous cursory versification of the Book of Revelation added at the end of Riga’s text. An edition and a short discussion of this unusual piece are also included in the article.
This chapter examines the relationship between a text and its glosses, using examples from the la... more This chapter examines the relationship between a text and its glosses, using examples from the later Middle Ages. It discusses interlinear glosses, marginal glosses, catena commentaries, as well as the layout of glosses. It argues that medieval glossing represented a new way of thinking and an important method for engaging with the literary and scholarly tradition.
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Papers by Greti Dinkova-Bruun
present state of the codex as well as the various late Gothic hands seen in it belies this date. In fact, this thoroughly remodeled copy of Peter Riga’s Aurora was probably produced in the late thirteenth-early fourteenth century. In addition to other previously unattested poetry, the codex contains an anonymous cursory versification of the Book of Revelation added at the end of Riga’s text. An edition and a short discussion of this unusual piece are also included in the article.
present state of the codex as well as the various late Gothic hands seen in it belies this date. In fact, this thoroughly remodeled copy of Peter Riga’s Aurora was probably produced in the late thirteenth-early fourteenth century. In addition to other previously unattested poetry, the codex contains an anonymous cursory versification of the Book of Revelation added at the end of Riga’s text. An edition and a short discussion of this unusual piece are also included in the article.
The enumeration of the commentaries and the explication of the range of interpretive and pedagogical approaches they display is the culmination of Frank Coulson’s life’s work on these texts, while the exhaustive accounting of the translations is the contribution of Harald Anderson. Credit is also given to Harry Levy, who worked on the printed commentaries on the Metamorphoses before his death. Encouraged by series editor Greti Dinkova-Bruun, the authors include generous citations from the prefatory material of the texts and, importantly, extend coverage deep into the seventeenth century, making the volume exceptionally valuable to all students of medieval and early modern European literature. The authors expand the value of their coverage by citing and providing links to online materials to the point that the text in some areas becomes virtual hypertext. The volume concludes with five very useful indices.
RALPH HEXTER
University of California, Davis
Series: Sources for Byzantine Art History 3
In this book the beauty and meaning of Byzantine art and its aesthetics are for the first time made accessible through the original sources. More than 150 medieval texts are translated from nine medieval languages into English, with commentaries from over seventy leading scholars. These include theories of art, discussions of patronage and understandings of iconography, practical recipes for artistic supplies, expressions of devotion, and descriptions of cities. The volume reveals the cultural plurality and the interconnectivity of medieval Europe and the Mediterranean from the late eleventh to the early fourteenth centuries. The first part uncovers salient aspects of Byzantine artistic production and its aesthetic reception, while the second puts a spotlight on particular ways of expressing admiration and of interpreting of the visual.
From an original idea of Elisa Brilli, George Ferzoco, and Nicholas Terpstra, and thanks to the invaluable work of Alice Martignoni and Nattapol Ruangsri (Research Assistants). Sponsored by the Department of Italian Studies, the Emilio Goggio Chair in Italian Studies at the University of Toronto, the Istituto Italiano di Cultura di Toronto, and Villa Charities.
With the participation of (alphabetical order):
A. Andrée (Professor, Centre for Medieval Studies, UofT) https://youtu.be/c7KNumdnWfU
M. Atwood (Writer and UofT Alumna) https://youtu.be/Dck_Medf07Q
S. Bancheri (Professor, Italian Studies, UofT) https://youtu.be/nFHIbUxs2JY
S. Bazzichetto (Uoft Alumnus) https://youtu.be/dCwIMv4DswQ
A. Berardi (Ph.D. Candidate, Centre for Medieval Studies, UofT) https://youtu.be/LESNnTr6eg4
E. Brilli (Professor, Italian Studies & Centre for Medieval Studies, UofT) https://youtu.be/abdojdHQBo4
A.L. Clarkson (Journalist and Stateswoman, and former Governor General of Canada) https://youtu.be/CmyAKJbUsto
B. Daigneault (Ph.D. Candidate, Centre for Medieval Studies, UofT) https://youtu.be/KJaGDS9iSTA
C. Dignard (Ph.D. Candidate, Spanish and Portuguese, UofT) https://youtu.be/1LxCv8mTCto
G. Dinkova-Bruun (Professor, Pontifical Institute) https://youtu.be/Hm4FvkFAAVc
K. Eisenbichler (Emeritus, UofT) https://youtu.be/8zKdgyaHnOk
E. Ferranti (Director Candidate Life, Massey College) https://youtu.be/tszX6lSRgfg
G. Ferzoco (Professor, University of Calgary) https://youtu.be/OGpWK_4wNg0
T. Fimognari (Undergraduate Candidate, UofT) https://youtu.be/cLcCaekbyP4
T. Fox (Ph.D. Candidate, University of Calgary & Translator and Reader in Stoney Nakoda) https://youtu.be/Dck_Medf07Q
P. Frascà (Professor, Italian Studies, UofT) https://youtu.be/p9ylx9xev_0
S. Galli (Ph.D. Candidate, Italian Studies, UofT) https://youtu.be/jQPPIWph_o8
A. Graheli (Professor, Historical Studies & Language Studies, UTM) https://youtu.be/Xi388PgrhiU
M. Jamali (Ph.D. Candidate, Italian Studies, UofT) https://youtu.be/GXG-3txDbdE
P. King (Professor, Philosophy & Centre for Medieval Studies, UofT) https://youtu.be/tOWRHgrwE14
A. Manguel (Writer) https://youtu.be/Dck_Medf07Q
A. Martignoni (Ph.D. Candidate, Italian Studies, UofT) https://youtu.be/oofMThkkxJk
A. Munteanu (Ph.D. Candidate, Linguistics, UofT) https://youtu.be/JnuzzEl95fc
M. Nunno (Translator & Reader in Anishinaabemowin) https://youtu.be/CmyAKJbUsto
W. Ohm (Ph.D. Candidate, German Studies, Uoft) https://youtu.be/zuErC-NMV98
G. Osmat (Ph.D. Candidate, Near & Middle Eastern Civilizations, UofT) https://youtu.be/IenVYWIksvA
E. Plesnik (Ph.D. Candidate, Centre for Medieval Studies, UofT) https://youtu.be/v_jAZJ7vHYw
N. Ruangsri (Ph.D. Candidate, Italian Studies, UofT), several videos
L. Sodano (Ph.D. Candidate, Italian Studies, UofT) https://youtu.be/-M5PvbjPd40
L. Somigli (Professor, Italian Studies, UofT) https://youtu.be/yonwxQsb4hc
R. Sophonpanich (Professor, Thammasat University, Translator & Reader in Thai) https://youtu.be/98QdvI2p02o
M. Stock (Professor, German Studies & Centre for Medieval Studies, UofT) https://youtu.be/8-3Y3xXEd7A
V. Tapia Cruz (Ph.D. Candidate, Spanish and Portuguese, Uoft) https://youtu.be/TSdN_DcxNrM
K. Tarves (Ph.D. Candidate, Slavic Languages and Literatures, UofT) https://youtu.be/Zr-5z6Uftw4
L. Tesi (Ph.D. Candidate, Italian Studies, UofT) https://youtu.be/t5okbQg3PDk
R. Xu (Ph.D. Candidate, Centre for Medieval Studies, UofT) https://youtu.be/AiPwjNFeJzU
A. Zambenedetti (Professor, Italian Studies, UofT) https://youtu.be/bJs4LrvvuO0
T. Zajac (UofT Alumna & Leverhulme Early Career Fellow, University of Manchester)
https://youtu.be/Os6j37jIrmQ