Liberalité and Le Magnanime in A
The illustrations for Book IV in A and C (Figs. 20, 20a and 21, 21a) fit the same pattern as those of the preceding book. The subjects chosen for illustration and definition fall into the categories of familiar moral virtues of particular relevance to the conduct of rulers. Like the arrangement of Figure 15, the two subjects of Figure 20 are separated by a central column carrying two arches surmounted by a crenellated wall segment. On the left is depicted Liberalité (eleutheriotes ), best translated in English as Generosity. Her male counterpart on the right is identified as Le Magnanime, a term called megalopsychia in Greek and translated into English as Magnanimity or High-Mindedness. Although the personifications again contrast a simply clad female in widowlike garb with a royal male figure, their postures and attitudes are reversed from those of Figure 15. Liberalité is found on the left, because discussion in the text of this subject occurs in the first three chapters. In fact, rubrics directly above and below the miniature in both Figures 20 and 21 tie illustration and text closely together. But the words Le Magnanime do not occur until the headings for Chapters 15 to 17 of Book IV. Once again, left-to-right order of representation reflects sequence in the text. Such an arrangement orients the reader first to the location and then to the association of these concepts. Thus, by relating text to images in the proper sequence, the reader will begin the process of recollection described by Aristotle.[1]
The contrasting red and blue fleur-de-lis grounds and costumes of the main figures in Figure 20 contribute to the color harmony of the pictorial, calligraphic, and decorative elements of the folio. The extensive use of gold in the right half of the miniature gives special weight to that part of the representation, yet gold is also present on the left side. Liberalité, who stands next to a pink table containing gold coins and vessels, is dispensing part of her hoard to figures placed at the left edge of the picture. The nature of Liberalité's action makes clear that her sphere encompasses money or riches. Oresme must have been aware that the question of expenditure involved a change in the type of ethical problem discussed in Book III, as his introductory words make plain: "Ci aprés commence le quart livre ouquel il tracte des vertus morales qui ne resgardent pas si principalment vie humainne comme font fortitude et actrempance" (Here begins the fourth book in which he discusses the moral virtues, which are not so fundamentally concerned with human life as are Fortitude and Temperance).[2]
Figure 20
Liberalité, Le Magnanime. Les éthiques d'Aristote, MS A.
Figure 20A
Detail of Fig. 20
The first paragraph of Book IV of the Ethics , and Oresme's translation of it, define Liberalité as the mean regarding the getting and spending of money. While this subject does not deal with such basic human qualities as fear and self-control, the right attitude toward expenditure of money and riches is a topic of great concern to rulers.[3] Aristotle concerns himself with the political and social issues relating to the expenditure of funds in Book V of the Ethics and in several places in the Politics . But not surprisingly, the Morgan Avis au roys makes an immediate connection between Liberalité and the ideal ruler. An illustration from this manuscript (Fig. 22) represents a king who wears a fleur-de-lis crown holding out coins to groups on his left and right. This ruler thus carries out the injunction that appears in the rubrics: "Comment bons princes doit avoir la plesent vertu de liberalité" (How a good prince must have the pleasing virtue of liberality).[4] Of course, the ruler must avoid the vices associated with expenditure, Prodigalité or Fole largesce (Too Much) or Illiberalité (Too Little). These vices are discussed extensively in the opening and subsequent sections of Book IV of the Ethics , but they are not represented in Figure 20.
The personification of Liberalité in Figure 20 guards her treasure trove. Standing on the ample ground plane at some distance from those requesting largesse, Liberalité does not look directly at them. Her outward gaze and turn of the head
Figure 21
Above, from left : Prodigalité, Liberalité, Avarice; below : Convoitise, Les éthiques
d'Aristote, MS C.
Figure 21A
Detail of Fig. 21
Figure 22
A French King as an Exemplar of Generosity. Avis au roys.
express restraint of attitude and action. Although the gesture of her right arm symbolizes generosity, that of her left one protects the riches spread out on the table. The total impression of her upright stance, costume, and body language emphasizes that Liberalité is a mean. The gifts that she bestows must have a good purpose and must be directed "to the right people," in "the right amounts, and at the right time, with all other qualifications that accompany right giving."[5]
Perhaps another explanation of Liberalité's detachment lies in an attempt to distinguish her as a spiritual force inhabiting an ideal realm, an attempt that is difficult to realize for several reasons. Unlike Attrempance in Figure 15, who does not act, Liberalité appears as an agent involved in the everyday world. The male actors and the treasure-laden table emphasize the earthly sphere and recipients of Liberalité's domain. This technique of exemplifying in everyday terms the workings of the virtues, noted in Figure 16, goes back more than a century.[6] Moreover, the naturalistic style and contemporary costume of the representation counter any perception of her as a purely spiritual force.[7] Thus, several elements of the visual definition lend an ambiguity to Liberalité's ontological status that is absent in the text.
A depiction of a different sort of virtue occupies the right half of Figure 20. Like Liberalité, the main figure, Le Magnanime, receives recognition from a group of kneeling people. This regal, crowned figure is seated on a low faldstool in front of a gold curtain. These insignia of high rank are symbols of Le Magnanime's ethical and social status. Le Magnanime possesses "great-souledness," or self-respect, while his merits deserve honor. Such a person already has other virtues, and this one augments them as "a sort of crown of virtues."[8] Obviously, Le Magnanime is a person of great standing in the community. The values he embodies and his inward and outward deportment are important elements of Aristotle's definition of High-Mindedness. Indeed, Aristotle seems to have composed a psychological portrait that Oresme takes up in the chapters devoted to Le Magnanime. In a typically thorough manner, Oresme enumerates thirty-three characteristics of Le Magnanime.[9] Oresme makes the point that it does not matter whether one speaks of the virtue of Magnanimity, or of the person who "oeuvre selon ceste vertu" (acts according to this virtue).[10] Later Oresme reiterates that the condition of Magnanimity concerns not only accepting honors but also possessing "richesces et puissances, grans offices ou estas" (riches and powers, great offices, or stations).[11] Without any mention of specific political office, Oresme's discussion puts the virtue in the orbit of those associated with actual or ideal rulers. Indeed, an illustration of the Morgan Avis au roys depicts a seated king who holds a red heart, emblem of generosity of spirit and feeling (and other qualities) encompassed by the virtue of Magnanimity (Fig. 23).
The representation of Le Magnanime in Figure 20 shows a ruler of exalted status receiving recognition from others of high estate. The unusually oriented vertical scroll emphasizes his position. The seated monarch is identified as the Holy Roman Emperor by virtue of his distinctive hoop crown. The foremost kneeling figure is himself a king, who, with a deferential gesture, lifts a gold crown from his head. A second man, clad in red, gapes in awe at Le Magnanime. In
Figure 23
A French King as an Exemplar of Magnanimity. Avis au roys.
contrast, the seated ruler, separated from his adorers by a side of the curtain, glances warily in their direction. The gesture of his right hand suggests decorum and deliberation. Le Magnanime accepts the honors due him owing to his rank and moral excellence, but he is not overly impressed by such recognition.[12] All in all, the visual portrait of Le Magnanime authoritatively records the grand manner described in Aristotle's text and Oresme's translation.
Within the simply ordered subject guide of Figure 20, the two figures depicted point to two virtues associated with the ideal ruler. Placed within separate spaces, the active female and contemplative male personifications are united by the memory gateway, brilliantly lit and emphasized by the contrasting grounds against which they act their appropriate roles. Again, as advocated in rhetorical and mnemonic theory, juxtaposition and opposition, underscored by gender and color contrasts, promote the association of the verbal concepts named in the inscriptions with the appropriate images. Furthermore, the arcade motif is a classic technique in mnemonic theory; it uses "space-between-columns" to locate the things to be remembered.[13] Here, the combined allusions of the architecture and fleur-de-lis to the kingdom of France as the seat of the depicted virtues may have aroused an unexpected negative reaction from Charles V.