Quem quaeritis?

Evangelia [Les quatre Évangiles, en latin] Source: gallica.bnf.fr
Bibliothèque de l’Arsenal, Ms-592 réserve, fol. 104v.

2 Responses to "Quem quaeritis?"

Grant Barber says:

March 27, 2017 at 9:49 am

I realize that this is a detail of a larger picture, so the “Fourth Evangelist” might be pictured separately. But I’ve never seen the Four Gospel writers pictured as women (head coverings) bearing jars of something…ointment? If sex were a bit more ambiguous I’d say 3 magi might be identity, but instead, aren’t these the three women coming to Jesus’ tomb at dawn with ointments? Now…by going back to tell the others that Jesus has risen they are indeed evangelists, as are other women (and men) in the Gospels….Samaritan woman at the well story for example. Arguably on equal footing with the male evangelists whether tradition acknowledges them or not. But I think this might be a misidentified depiction.

Reply
1. jesse says:
  
  March 27, 2017 at 9:19 pm
  
  Thanks for your comment, Grant. Click on the image to see the full manuscript page. I think you may have confused the title of the volume (Les Quatre Évangiles: The Four Gospels) for a caption. This is indeed the scene of the Visitatio Sepulchri, where the three Marys visiting the sepulcher of Christ. In the full scene, you can see not only the angel sitting on the lid of the tomb, but also a burial linen hanging inside the tomb.
  
  Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.