The representation of Bacchic festivities in the Middle Ages: The illuminated manuscripts of the Ovide moralisé and the Ovidius moralizatus

Abstract

At the end of the third book and the beginning of the fourth book of the Metamorphoses, the particular Thebaid created by Ovid is narrated, with the entry of Bacchus into Thebes and the celebration of the Bacchic festivities. This paper aims to study the images in relation to this theme that are represented in fourteenth century illuminated manuscripts of Ovide moralisé and Ovidius moralizatus. In this analysis we will take several aspects into account: the different texts that illustrate the miniatures, the Ovide moralisé and the Ovidius moralizatus, for which the different texts will be compared; the lack of previous iconographic models of this myth, and the absence of key points in the narrative. As a consequence, each miniaturist, when converting the myth into an image, opts for a presentation of the god and his rites, with the consequent creation of different versions for this topic.