What is a butt tuba and why is it in medieval art? - Michelle Brown
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0:06 - 0:09A rabbit attempts to play a church organ,
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0:09 - 0:11while a knight fights a giant snail
-
0:11 - 0:15and a naked man blows a trumpet
with his rear end. -
0:15 - 0:19Painted with squirrel-hair brushes
on vellum or parchment -
0:19 - 0:22by monks, nuns, and urban craftspeople,
-
0:22 - 0:27these bizarre images populate the
margins of the most prized books -
0:27 - 0:29from the Middle Ages.
-
0:29 - 0:35Their illustrations often tell a second
story as rich as the text itself. -
0:35 - 0:38Some images appear in many
different illuminated manuscripts, -
0:38 - 0:42and often reinforce the religious
content of the books they decorated. -
0:42 - 0:46For example, a porcupine picking
up fruit on its spines -
0:46 - 0:50could represent the devil stealing
the fruits of faith-- -
0:50 - 0:54or Christ taking up the sins of mankind.
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0:54 - 0:58Medieval lore stated that a hunter
could only capture a unicorn -
0:58 - 1:01when it lay its horn in
the lap of a virgin, -
1:01 - 1:05so a unicorn could symbolize
either sexual temptation -
1:05 - 1:08or Christ being captured by his enemies.
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1:08 - 1:12Rabbits, meanwhile, could represent
human’s lustful natures— -
1:12 - 1:15and could redeem themselves through
attempts to make sacred music -
1:15 - 1:18despite their failings.
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1:18 - 1:21All of these references would have
been familiar to medieval Europeans -
1:21 - 1:24from other art forms and oral tradition,
-
1:24 - 1:28though some have grown more
mysterious over the centuries. -
1:28 - 1:29Today,
-
1:29 - 1:34no one can say for sure what the common
motif of a knight fighting a snail means— -
1:34 - 1:38or why the knight so often
appears to be losing. -
1:38 - 1:41The snail might be a symbol of the
inevitability of death, -
1:41 - 1:44which defeats even the strongest knights.
-
1:44 - 1:50Or it could represent humility, and a
knight’s need to vanquish his own pride. -
1:50 - 1:55Many illuminated manuscripts were
copies of religious or classical texts, -
1:55 - 2:00and the bookmakers incorporated their
own ideas and opinions in illustrations. -
2:00 - 2:02The butt tuba, for example,
-
2:02 - 2:05was likely shorthand to
express disapproval with-- -
2:05 - 2:10or add an ironic spin to--
the action in the text. -
2:10 - 2:14Illuminations could also be used to
make subversive political commentary. -
2:14 - 2:16The text of the "Smithfield Decretals"
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2:16 - 2:20details the Church’s laws and
punishments for lawbreakers. -
2:20 - 2:24But the margins show a fox being
hanged by geese, -
2:24 - 2:29a possible allusion to the common people
turning on their powerful oppressors. -
2:29 - 2:31In the "Chronica Majora,"
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2:31 - 2:34Matthew Paris summarized a
scandal of his day, -
2:34 - 2:36in which the Welsh prince Griffin
-
2:36 - 2:40plummeted to his death
from the tower of London. -
2:40 - 2:43Some believed the prince fell,
Paris wrote, -
2:43 - 2:45while others thought he was pushed.
-
2:45 - 2:47He added his own take in the margins,
-
2:47 - 2:50which show the prince falling to his death
-
2:50 - 2:53while trying to escape on a rope
made of bed-sheets. -
2:53 - 2:57Some margins told stories of
a more personal nature. -
2:57 - 2:58"The Luttrell Psalter,"
-
2:58 - 3:03a book of psalms and prayers commissioned
by Sir Geoffrey Luttrell, -
3:03 - 3:05shows a young woman having her hair done,
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3:05 - 3:08while a young man catches a bird in a net.
-
3:08 - 3:11The shaved patch on his
head is growing out, -
3:11 - 3:15indicating that he is a clergyman
neglecting his duties. -
3:15 - 3:17This alludes to a family scandal
-
3:17 - 3:21where a young cleric ran away with Sir
Geoffrey’s daughter Elizabeth. -
3:21 - 3:26The family’s personal spiritual advisor
likely painted it into the book -
3:26 - 3:28to remind his clients of their failings
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3:28 - 3:32and encourage their spiritual development.
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3:32 - 3:35Some artists even painted themselves
into the manuscripts. -
3:35 - 3:39The opening image of Christine de
Pisan’s collected works -
3:39 - 3:43shows de Pisan presenting
the book to the Queen of France. -
3:43 - 3:47The queen was so impressed by de Pisan's
previous work -
3:47 - 3:49that she commissioned her own copy.
-
3:49 - 3:51Such royal patronage
-
3:51 - 3:55enabled her to establish her own
publishing house in Paris. -
3:55 - 4:00The tradition of illuminated manuscripts
lasted for over a thousand years. -
4:00 - 4:05The books were created by individuals or
teams for uses as wide-ranging -
4:05 - 4:10as private prayer aids, service books
in churches, textbooks, -
4:10 - 4:14and protective talismans to
take into battle. -
4:14 - 4:16Across all this variation,
-
4:16 - 4:18those tricky little drawings
in the margins -
4:18 - 4:22are a unique window into the
minds of medieval artists.
- Title:
- What is a butt tuba and why is it in medieval art? - Michelle Brown
- Speaker:
- Michelle Brown
- Description:
-
View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/what-is-a-butt-tuba-and-why-is-it-in-medieval-art-michelle-brown
A rabbit attempts to play a church organ, while a knight fights a giant snail and a naked man blows a trumpet with his rear end. These bizarre images, painted with squirrel-hair brushes on vellum or parchment by monks, nuns and urban craftspeople, populate the margins of the most prized books from the Middle Ages. Michelle Brown explores the rich history and tradition of illuminated manuscripts.
Lesson by Michelle Brown, directed by WOW-HOW Studio.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TED-Ed
- Duration:
- 04:22
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