@GhileneH @JeffreyJDean Martin Schongauer, Death of the Virgin (1480). Apostle is ready on right with the aspersorium, but we can't see the aspergillum. And Andrea Mantegna, Death of the Virgin, 1461, clearer view of a round aspersorium.
Saint Jerome in His Study (y1982-76)
@GhileneH @JeffreyJDean Aha, I think you're on to something. Here is a ca.1275-1300 illumination of a monkey with aspergillum, of the older sort, from an Arthurian manuscript.
@JeffreyJDean @GhileneH Yes, I was wondering if the "bottle brush" design in the engraving was meant to represent the traditional hyssop bundle form of aspergillum, rather than the later mace-design. Since Jerome was a priest, and much later believed to be a cardinal, this could be a symbol pointing to that role.
@GhileneH @JeffreyJDean Yes, I asked this question on Twitter too, and most people there suggested it was an aspergillum. But again, every version I've seen is a round ball with holes, and not at all like a bottle brush.
@GhileneH @JeffreyJDean Merci pour cette référence et ce lien! Cela ressemble certainement à un goupillon, mais on vient aussi de m'envoyer une publication qui insiste sur le fait qu'il s'agit d'un "aspergillum".
@JeffreyJDean Ha, if only! The symbolism would be great. I'm assuming chamber pots were always kept on the floor, and near or below a bed. All the old examples I've seen had large handles too.
Hi all, looking for help from art history & iconography friends.
Can anyone suggest what the jar in the niche might be in Dürer's "Saint Jerome in His Study" (1514)? It's a round, open jar with a stick in it. Honey? Can't find it mentioned in any iconographic analysis.
Oddly, the stick seems to be glowing with radiant, holy light. Either that or it has many sharp spikes!
For context, I'm studying apothecary jars in Renaissance paintings (mostly Jerome), but I can't identify this jar.
Enjoying my wildlife encounters today: starfish in the harbor and snowshoe hare in my driveway. Which one will take my car?
@CandaceRobbAuthor We’ve had 10 straight days of rain after devastating wildfires. I’d happily take something in between!
