Hortus Conclusus—A Mariological Metaphor in Some Renaissance Paintings of the Annunciation in the Light of Medieval Liturgical Hymns

This article seeks to shed light on the doctrinal meanings of the closed garden included in some Renaissance paintings of the Annunciation. To justify the iconographic interpretations that we will give of these paintings, we will base them on the analysis of many medieval liturgical hymns that poeti...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autor: Salvador González, José María
Formato: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2022
País:España
Recursos:Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)
Repositorio:Docta Complutense
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:docta.ucm.es:20.500.14352/88390
Acesso em linha:https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/88390
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palavra-chave:7.033/.034
27‑312.47
Annunciation
Virgin Mary
Divine motherhood
Perpetual virginity
Mariology
Liturgical hymns
Renaissance art
Historia del Arte
5506.02 Historia del Arte
Descrição
Resumo:This article seeks to shed light on the doctrinal meanings of the closed garden included in some Renaissance paintings of the Annunciation. To justify the iconographic interpretations that we will give of these paintings, we will base them on the analysis of many medieval liturgical hymns that poetically designate the Virgin Mary through the metaphorical expression hortus conclusus (closed garden) with which the Husband or Bridegroom requisites the Wife or Bride in the Song of Songs. We will divide our article into two parts as a strategy for analysis. First, we will analyze an extensive series of fragments of liturgical hymns that repeatedly praise Mary through this biblical metaphor. In the second part, we will examine some artistic representations of the Annunciation that, in the Italian Renaissance, depict a closed garden in the scene. From this double comparative analysis, textual and iconic, we will conclude that, in direct and essential correlation, those hymnic texts and those paintings clearly illustrate that the hortus conclusus is an eloquent symbol of the virginal divine motherhood of Mary and her perpetual virginity, as well as the excellence and fullness of her supernatural virtues and privileges.</jats:p>