Eufori och melankoli – Om kroppsspråket och den ikonografiska traditionen

Abstract

Euphoria and Melancholy – Body Language and the Iconographic Tradition
This article addresses gestures and body language associated with joy and sadness. The examples presented are drawn from different periods, but the main interest revolves around a couple of carved reliefs on the medieval choir stalls in Lund Cathedral in present day Sweden. With reference to dendrochronological samples, these images may be dated to the 1350s or 1360s. The choir stalls are made of oak and decorated in high-gothic fashion with elegantly crafted scenes taken from the Bible and the Legenda aurea. In addition, there are also symbolic representations of the twelve months, as well as prophets and a vast number of animals. Some of the Biblical motifs are arranged in a typological fashion, which means that the images from the Old and the New Testament correspond with each other. Most of the scenes depicted on the choir stalls are rather easy to identify. In the present article, however, two of the more obscure images will be examined. With the support of iconographic parallels and written sources from different periods, these scenes may be identified as Adam and Eve lamenting the death of their son Abel, and Bathsheba at the court of King Solomon or Esther and Ahasuerus.