earticle

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The purpose of this article is to highlight the medieval representation of books as a social and political medium between author and patron. This study deals particularly with two iconographical themes in the illuminated manuscript frontispieces of the Middle Ages - book dedications from author to patron and book commissions by patron from author. The book dedication scene is one of the most frequent iconographical themes in medieval frontispieces and has its origins in Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. Despite the quantity of studies made by art historians who have classified iconographical types and transformations in space and time, it is only recently that historians have accessed this iconographical subject in light of the social relationship between author and patron and the anthropological theory of Gift Exchange as inspired from the work of Marcel Mauss. These grandiose dedications enhanced the patron’s power and prestige. At the same time, they also occasioned the author the opportunity to further seek his patron’s favor through this strategy of ‘Gift-giving’ in public and private spaces. Book commissions are another iconographical theme that demonstrate the author-patron relationship. However, commissions appear only rarely in manuscript frontispieces and thus have not been a main focus of historical discussion. A book commission emphasizes the patron’s direct involvement in the production of the book and his inspiration behind the book's conception. It also bestows upon the book’s author a certain prestige and authority of his own especially in the scene of the commissioner's visiting to his atelier. It also testifies the enhancement of the lay author's status in the Late Middle Ages. These iconographies provide an example of how the relationship between author and patron had come to the forefront and played a crucial role in medieval symbolism when book culture had been secularized by the Late Middle Ages.