The Iconographical Representation of the Book of Ruth in Medieval Historiated Initials

Abstract

The Latin text of the Book of Ruth begins with the letter «I» («In diebus unius judicis»). The decoration of the initial can include a figure or a scene. The figure could represent Samuel, the author, Elimelech or Ruth, with different meanings. The scene included one of the most significant episodes of the story, which allowed the reader to recognize and recall the main events. Due to the long and narrow shape of this letter, medieval illuminators frequently represented several scenes, each one on adifferent register. This paper will focus on the variety of visual readings of this iconographical cycle depending on the chosenscenes. Twoconcernsareofspecialrelevance. First, the question as to what extent the iconographic representation remained faithful to the text; whether there were variants and if these were significant or not. Second, the interpretation that the reader made of the images that he or she contemplated.