The dance in the garden of pleasure from the Romant de la rose Manuscript
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Contributor:
SOTK2011 / Alamy Stock PhotoImage ID:
C8MAE5File size:
30.6 MB (2.7 MB Compressed download)Releases:
Model - no | Property - noDo I need a release?Dimensions:
2960 x 3610 px | 25.1 x 30.6 cm | 9.9 x 12 inches | 300dpiDate taken:
2011More information:
The Roman de la rose, pronounced, is a medieval French poem styled as an allegorical dream vision. It is a notable instance of courtly literature. The work's stated purpose is to both entertain and to teach others about the Art of Love. At various times in the poem, the "Rose" of the title is seen as the name of the lady, and as a symbol of female sexuality in general. Likewise, the other characters' names function both as regular names and as abstractions illustrating the various factors that are involved in a love affair. The poem was written in two stages. The first 4058 lines, written by Guillaume de Lorris circa 1230, describe the attempts of a courtier to woo his beloved. This part of the story is set in a walled garden or locus amoenus, one of the traditional topoi of epic and chivalric literature. In this walled garden, the interior represents romance, while the exterior stands for everyday life. It is unclear whether Lorris considered his version to be incomplete, but it was generally viewed as such. Around 1275, Jean de Meun composed an additional 17, 724 lines. Jean's discussion of love is considered more philosophical and encyclopedic, but also more misogynistic and bawdy. The writer Denis de Rougemont felt that the first part of the poem portrayed Rose as an idealised figure, while the second part portrayed her as a more physical and sensual being. Still, much recent scholarship has argued for the essential unity of the work, which is how it was received by later medieval readers. The work was both popular and controversial—one of the most widely read works in France for three centuries. Its emphasis on sensual language and imagery provoked attacks by Jean Gerson, Christine de Pizan and many other writers and moralists of the 14th and 15th centuries. Historian Johann Huizinga writes, “