Лепота лобање: посмртни остаци „обичних“ мртвих у култури и визуелној култури касног средњег века

Abstract

Human remains were big part of medieval society, both East and West. The precious relics of the saints, the most desirable bodies in the Middle Ages, were adored in there marvelous reliquaries, while the corpses of criminals were left to rot before people’s very eyes, irst displayed for a period of time, and then cast aside. However, the purpose of the present paper is to explore the relationship of medieval men toward the remains of the “ordinary” dead. Even though they were not the most powerful, they were by far the most numerous of all the dead in medieval communities. This relationship is explored by inquiry of many diverse beliefs, customs and practices concerning the image of bodily decay. The perception of the putrefaction, both in the Byzantine East and the Latin West, was ambiguous, cherishing the ideas of sin and punishment, as well as puriication and heroic asceticism. For the ordinary dead decomposition was necessity in order to leave the physicality of this world and be introduced to the community of ancestors. This also implied that while the corpse was undergoing the process of decay, the soul was in purgatorial pains. Consequently, all that was left after decomposition were the hard dry bones. They were then placed in the special consecrated buildings – the ossuaries – to wait in peace the future resurrection of their lesh. Knowing this, as well as the context in which medieval men encountered the skulls in cemeteries – during activities that more often than not had nothing to do with burying the deceased – we are able to sense the idea of togetherness between living and dead which promised order and prosperity to the community.

Предмет интересовања овог рада је однос средњовековног човека према посмртним остацима преминулих чланова заједнице. Супротстављене идеје које су исказивале телесна трулеж и сува кост разматрају се кроз анализу одређеног броја репрезентативних примера касносредњовековне визуелне културе, како на византијском Истоку тако и на латинском Западу. Нарочита пажња пoсвећена је веровањима и погребним обичајима који су обликовали представу мртвог тела или пак сами били њом обликовани.