10—
Guides to the Intellectual Virtues (Book VI)
In contrast to the all-embracing concept of Justice in Book V, defined in terms of its generic and particular qualities, individual virtues, characterized by intellectual rather than moral associations, are discussed in Book VI. This book also begins the second half of the Nicomachean Ethics . Following the exceptional size and configuration of the representation of Justice (Fig. 24), the illustration for Book VI in A (Figs. 33, 33a, and Pl. 4) returns to the format and dimensions of the column series. In C , however, the miniature for Book VI (Figs. 34 and 34a) starts a greatly enlarged and revised series of illustrations that reflects a critique of the first half of the cycle. Most probably, the patron, translator—or both—requested the changes. The scribe, Raoulet d'Orléans, and Oresme worked with the illuminators to make the revisions.
Although Figure 33 is less striking than its predecessor, within the structure of the book the miniature receives some emphasis. If the dimensions of Figure 33 are not exceptional, the illustration gains importance by its position at the head of the second column of text. The summary paragraph opposite the illustration informs the reader that the sixth book deals with the "vertus intellectueles" (intellectual virtues).[1] The introduction to Chapter 1 (in rubrics) directly below the miniature states that at this point Aristotle sets forth his intention and a definition necessary to his proposition.[2]
Chapters 1 and 2 of Oresme's translation of Book VI explain how knowledge of the intellectual virtues relates to moral virtue as defined in Book II.[3] Book VI discusses the rational principle or right rule as a guide to moral choice, an intellectual operation that includes the nature of practical wisdom. Furthermore, since human happiness or well-being depends on an activity of soul in accordance with virtue, it is important to know what is the best type of virtue.[4]
Oresme states that after Aristotle's treatment of the moral virtues, which belong to the irrational part of the soul, the Philosopher turns to the intellectual virtues. These are associated with the rational part of the soul, which in turn is divided in two. The first of these subdivisions is the scientific faculty, by which the mind contemplates things of unchanging principles, such as mathematical science. The other part of the soul is calculative and contemplates things that are variable.[5] Oresme uses the terms scientifique ou speculative (scientific or speculative) for the
Figure 33
Art, Sapience. Les éthiques d'Aristote, MS A.
Figure 33A
Detail of Fig. 33
first part of the rational division of the soul; raciocinative ou pratique (calculative or practical) for the second.[6]
Oresme follows Aristotle in naming and defining five intellectual virtues: art, science or knowledge, prudence or practical wisdom, philosophical or theoretical wisdom, and comprehension or intelligence. Translation of these concepts into French may have presented difficulties, as the terms Oresme used had connotations in French different from their Aristotelian definitions. The translator was scrupulous in his efforts to supply the proper linguistic context for the intellectual virtues: art, science, prudence, sapience , and entendement . The contemporary reader may also have known Prudence as one of the four cardinal virtues, but here it is one of Aristotle's set of five intellectual virtues. Indeed, the new secular readership may have had problems in understanding the abstract concepts and philosophical vocabulary introduced in Oresme's discussion. It is, therefore, not surprising that Oresme includes selected terms in the glossary of difficult words, such as accion, active, contingent, faccion , and factive (action, active, contingent, doing, making).[7]
The visual definitions of two intellectual virtues, Art and Sapience, in A (Fig. 33a) are selective subject guides, inasmuch as Oresme chooses them over Science, Entendement, and Prudence. Prudence is the only one of the group particularly associated with the qualifications and conduct of the ideal ruler. Since Charles V was known for sagesse , his identification with a representation of Prudence might have been expected.[8] Perhaps Oresme wishes instead to allude to Charles V's personal search for and conscious identification with Sapience, the highest type of knowledge.
Although the omission of Prudence is puzzling, Oresme's choices of Art and Sapience are explicable on several grounds. On a conceptual level, the two are associated with different parts of the soul: Art with the calculative faculty; Sapience with the scientific or speculative faculty. For mnemonic and aesthetic purposes, the representation of Art as an active scene depicting a contemporary activity is clearly contrasted with a quiet, contemplative one. Here a male personification is associated with action in human affairs, and a female with passive reaction to a spiritual force. This pattern of masculine/feminine and active/passive contrasts is first established in the illustrations in A of Books III and IV (Figs. 15 and 20), which are also divided into two adjacent compartments. The same opposition of blue and red continues in Figure 33 (see Pl. 4), as do the assertive quadrilobe tricolor inner frame, the crenellated memory gateway, and the central supporting column. Once again color and gender contrasts reinforce the mnemonic functions of the images. Absent in Figure 33 and the subsequent miniatures of A is the fleur-de-lis motif, so prominent in the first half of the cycle. As before, the link between the visual and verbal definitions originates in the inscriptions. The reader can glance across at the headings in the first column of text (A , fol. 115) to find the chapters in which Art and Sapience are discussed. The first is found in Chapter 4; the second, in Chapters 7, 8, 13, and 14. The inscription "Art" is highlighted by the angle of the hammer head held by the male personification, while the chapter heading relating to Art is located almost directly opposite the lower left side of the miniature. Whereas the proximity of the chapter heading and the visual definition of Art are fortuitous consequences of the layout, the position of Art and Sapience on the left and right respectively again reflects the order in which they are discussed in the text.
Art
To the modern reader the choice of a blacksmith to personify Art may come as a surprise. But in Aristotle the term Art is defined as "a state concerned with making, involving a true course of reasoning."[9] Oresme makes the same point: art "est habit factif avecques vraie raison."[10] As Paul Oskar Kristeller makes clear, "the Greek term for Art (techne ) and its Latin equivalent (ars ) do not specifically denote the 'fine arts' in the modern sense, but were applied to all kinds of human activities which we would call crafts or sciences."[11] Aristotle's definition of Art "as a kind of activity based on knowledge" had a lasting influence.[12] Oresme follows Aristotle in giving building (architecture) as an example of Art.[13]
Yet the choice of a personification of Art in Figure 33 is a blacksmith, a craft mentioned neither in Aristotle's text nor in Oresme's translation. The clues for the selection of a blacksmith derive from a gloss by Oresme on the definition of Art:
C'est ou .vi.e livre de Methaphisique ou il appert la difference entre accion et faccion. Car accion est operacion qui demeure en celui qui la fait, si comme veoir ou entendre. Et faccion est celle qui passe en aucune matiere dehors, si comme edifier, forgier, etc.
(It is in the sixth book of the Metaphysics that the difference between doing and making is revealed. For doing is an operation that remains within the one who does it, as in seeing or hearing. And making is one that passes into some external material, as in building or forging.)[14]
The word forgier appears in the glossary of difficult words in the entry for faccion : "Faccion est operacion qui passe en matiere dehors, si comme est edifier, forgier et teles choses" (Making is an action that passes into external matter as in building, forging, or such things).[15] Oresme's addition of the word forgier to the standard definition emphasizes the meaning of the term art to connote the skill or know-how needed to make things by transforming raw materials into finished products. It is characteristic of his efforts to provide the reader with familiar, specific examples of abstract ideas. Furthermore, Oresme may have also judged that the single figure of a blacksmith was visually more compelling in personifying Art than a mason or other craftsman associated with construction of a building.
Yet Oresme may have chosen a blacksmith for other reasons. In primitive cultures, smiths enjoyed high status and, because of their association with fire and the power to make useful objects by chemical processes, were considered magical, heroic, and in some instances, royal or divine beings.[16] Familiar examples from Greek and Roman mythology respectively are the gods Hephaestus and Vulcan. In medieval society, blacksmiths were valued members of the community who made all manner of iron and steel implements necessary for carrying on pursuits of peace and war. On the negative side, blacksmithing was looked down on as a dirty and menial kind of work. Because Oresme had a scientific mind, the blacksmith who had technological knowledge of chemical processes may have had special appeal. Certainly to the contemporary reader the blacksmith vividly translates the Aristotelian notion of Art. The smith's techniques based on practical knowledge enabled him to produce useful objects from raw materials.[17]
The Jean de Sy Master's depiction of the vigorous blacksmith is one of the liveliest scenes of the entire cycle. Dressed in a short violet tunic and whitish apron, the bearded blacksmith concentrates as he fashions a red-hot implement that rests on the anvil. The bellows and hot coals on the forge identify his pursuit, while tools of the trade set on a rack above his head further specify the nature of his activity. The smith's clenched hand and upraised arm gripping a hammer convey his inner absorption with his craft. Except for the bright red accents of the coals and the implement being forged, the colors are muted against the dark blue background to convey the sense of an enclosed interior space. All in all, the illuminator has produced an expressive personification of Art entirely consistent with the meaning of the term.
Sapience
The right half of Figure 33 is devoted to the personification of Sapience, Theoretical or Philosophical Wisdom. As noted above, Sapience represents a different type of knowledge from that of Art or Prudence, better termed Practical Wisdom. For
Aristotle, Philosophical Wisdom, "the union of intuition and science," is "directed to the loftiest objects," such as "the heavenly bodies." Theoretical Wisdom encompasses not only philosophy but also mathematics and natural science. "Contemplation of these subjects," as discussed in Book X of the Ethics , is "in Aristotle's view the ideal life for man."[18]
Oresme follows Aristotle's definition of wisdom and identifies the highest of the intellectual virtues with metaphysics "qui considere les principes generals de toutes sciences et les causes principalx de toutes choses et les meilleurs et plus dignes choses qui puissent estre, comme sont Dieu et les Intelligences" (which considers the general principles of all sciences and the causes of all things, and the best and most worthy things that can ever be, such as God and the Intelligences).[19] In neither text nor gloss does Oresme allude to the traditional medieval identification, established by St. Augustine, of Wisdom and Christ, the second person of the Trinity.[20] Oresme is, however, not original in recognizing the classical Aristotelian definition of wisdom as knowledge "of first causes and principles" and in acknowledging metaphysics "as an autonomous human wisdom, independent of theology and naturally acquired by man without the aid of grace."[21] Thomas Aquinas had made these vital distinctions in the Summa theologica and other writings.[22] Aquinas, however, distinguishes between two types of wisdom. The metaphysical kind is close to Aristotle's definition. But the theological type is superior to the metaphysical, inasmuch as the former embodies a type of knowledge revealed by and known by God himself, a gift of the Holy Spirit. Theology "is a revealed knowledge of divine things, a human participation in the Word, which is Wisdom itself and an intellectual participation in the illumination and stability of the Ideas of God."[23]
The representation of Sapience in Figure 33 probably reflects this definition of theological wisdom advanced by Aquinas and other Christian thinkers. Chapters 7 and 8 of Book VI of Oresme's translation discuss the virtue of Sapience without any Christian reference. The personification of Sapience is clad in a blue mantle and a white, widowlike headdress (see Pl. 4). Facing right, she sits before a lectern holding an open book with her right hand. She gazes upward toward a bust-length cross-nimbed Christ and a group of angels in blue clouds. Her pose suggests that her knowledge of God and the first principles, equated with Christ and the angels, results in direct, visual communication with them. Christ looks down at Sapience, revealing that he is both the source and the subject of wisdom.[24]
The theological character of Sapience thus seems to lack a textual source. Moreover, the iconography adds to the ambiguity of the content. Sapience's reading of a book may indicate that the source of her knowledge is the present or a related text by Aristotle, such as the Metaphysics , that studies God and the first principles. More likely, her vision comes from reading the Christian doctrine inscribed in her book. Her pose, rooted in antique author-muse portraits, is common to various medieval types of personifications: the reading Evangelist and vita contemplativa are just two among many possibilities.[25] The context of the miniature, in which the left half is devoted to an active scene of physical work, indicates that the vita contemplativa figure is a more direct source. Since the contemplative life
had a Christian interpretation during the Middle Ages, it is likely that this tradition influenced the miniaturist.[26] In short, the extratextual associations of Sapience with Christian interpretations of wisdom suggest that a secular characterization of the virtue may have simply been judged unintelligible or unorthodox.
The illuminator emphasized essential aspects of the scene by use of color. In contrast to the more subdued tones of the left scene, the right half stands out. The vivid red of the background and Christ's mantle, as well as the gold of the angels' forms and the bright blue of the clouds, signify the heavenly realms. The quiet scene of contemplation of the divine shines forth in splendid hues, while the earthly labors of Art reflect the muted character of mundane toil. The psychological contrasts between Art and Sapience are well served, too, by their spatial separation and opposing orientations. As Kolve puts it: "The enterprises of art and wisdom are quite properly shown side by side, but they are also distinct from each other: two people are engaged in them, as it were in different rooms."[27]
The Intellectual Virtues in C
The illustration in C of Book VI (Figs. 34 and 34a) dramatically reveals the first major revision of the second half of the program. Most obvious is the increase by two thirds of the height of the illumination from that of Book V.[28] The large size is undoubtedly a response to the crowding of figures and inscriptions noted in the miniatures of Books IV and V. The ample space now available accommodates the expanded subject-guide function of this illustration, which now occupies about half the folio. The two-register format also permits an orderly sequence for presenting not just two of the intellectual virtues (as in Fig. 33) but all five. The enhanced frontispiece status of Figure 34 is emphasized by its placement between the rinceau of the upper left border and the large initial P containing a ferocious dragon below. The exquisitely refined, softly modeled grisaille figures stand out against the apricot and blue backgrounds of the upper and lower registers. The Master of the Coronation of Charles VI himself appears to have executed the first miniature of the revised part of the program. Yet the process of revision brought new challenges and problems for Oresme, Raoulet d'Orléans, the illuminator, and the reader.
As usual, the sequence of personifications begins on the upper left of the top register and proceeds to the right. The same order is observed in the lower zone. The system of presenting the five intellectual virtues in a sequence follows the order of the chapters in Oresme's translation. When Oresme and Aristotle name them in Chapter 2 of Book VI, however, Art comes first, followed by Science, Prudence, Sapience, and Entendement. In Figure 34, Science, Art, and Prudence (Practical Wisdom) occupy the upper zone, and Entendement (Intuitive Reason) and Sapience, the lower one. It thus appears that chapter order has priority over other principles of grouping, since in Aristotle's discussion of the intellectual virtues Science belongs with Entendement and Sapience as parts of the scientific faculty of the soul concerned with theoretical wisdom.[29] Figure size and placement
Figure 34
Above, from left: Science, Art, Prudence; below, from left:
Entendement, Sapience. Les éthiques d'Aristote, MS C.
Figure 34A
Detail of Fig. 34
in the pictorial field emphasize the importance of Entendement and Sapience. Indeed, the disparities in scale, not only between the figures of the upper and lower zones but also between those of Entendement and Sapience, create a somewhat unharmonious effect. Still, the contrast between the relatively busy upper zone and the spacious quality of the lower one suggests a more tranquil environment for the loftier concerns of Entendement and Sapience.
Science (Episteme ), the first virtue represented in the upper register of Figure 34, is seated on a low bench, arms upraised, gazing at an open book supported on a lectern. Her iconographic type is extremely similar to that of Sapience in Figure 33. Like all the other female personifications in C , she wears a nunlike costume. Her small scale, gesture of wonder, and slight features give her a somewhat childish appearance, quite at variance with the formidable values she personifies. Science, as defined by Aristotle and translated by Oresme, stands for pure knowledge, which can be taught, involves a rational principle, and is concerned with what is necessary, eternal, and invariable. Science proceeds by the syllogistic process,
beginning with induction, "which supplies the first principles."[30] Obviously, the visual characterization of Science is a difficult task. Oresme and the illuminator limit the representation to suggest that Science involves an authoritative knowledge based on book learning.
The next personification, Art, is exceptional in several ways. The experimental nature of the representation is first revealed by the unusual position of the identifying inscription above the frame. In comparison to the blacksmith in Figure 33, the representation of Art in C shows a radical transformation. Most obvious is the sex change. The reversed gender is part of the attempt in the program of C to make all the personifications, except for Fortitude, uniformly feminine. Although there was a complex tradition of personifying the liberal arts in the Middle Ages by both masculine and feminine figures, there also existed textual and visual sources for cycles of mechanical, or nonliberal, arts.[31] An early fourteenth-century manuscript of Brunetto Latini's Li livres dou trésor contains a full-page frontispiece in which the seven liberal arts are depicted in a central column flanked on left and right by the same number of representations of practical and mechanical arts respectively.[32] All but the personification of Weaving are represented as men.[33] Despite such cycles of mechanical arts, the representation of Art as a generic concept seems quite rare.
Also unusual is the manner in which Art is portrayed. Lined up with the running title of the folio and the space between the two text columns, she is the central figure of the upper register. Moreover, she stands full-length and almost totally frontal in a majesty pose. Despite these signs of her importance, her tucked-up apron reveals that, unlike her sister virtues, she belongs to the working class.[34] This unusual tribute to Art continues in the extensive surface area devoted to the depiction of the various tools grouped under her aegis that symbolize the useful arts and crafts. In addition to the mallet and harp that Art holds in her right and left hands, the other implements are a hammer, carpenter's square, scissors, plumb line, saw, pruning hook, axe, spindle, comb, and a pronged implement.[35] Figures working on either side of Art personify the cultivation of sheep and agriculture. Such a tribute to the arts is consistent with the high status they enjoyed in the encyclopedic tradition represented by Vincent of Beauvais or Hugh of St. Victor.
The productive activities of medieval society in which tools are also symbols of the human ability to make useful objects from raw materials give the definition of Art a wider compass than the representation in Figure 33 of the solitary and engaging blacksmith. The comprehensive nature of this visual definition accords with the didactic aims of the cycle of illustration in C . Finally, the importance of Art among the intellectual virtues is conveyed by the mode of representing her and her attributes. Together with her frontality, the vertical deployment of the tools and implements calls to mind such popular devotional images as the Man of Sorrows, in which Christ is surrounded by instruments of the Passion.[36] This example of the migration of an image from the religious to the secular sphere raises the question of the degree of spiritual value assimilated by the secular representation. Even without such an association, the image of Art is a compelling creation.[37]
Another dimension of the depiction of Art is its ingenuity. It is characteristic of Oresme's inventive spirit that he found so apt an iconographic formula to suit the needs of his concept of Art. The mode of depiction not only informs the reader but invites participation in identifying the crafts symbolized by the tools. Such a process of naming these pursuits is a form of visual riddle that also serves as a learning device. In effect, the reader is re-creating the visual definition as a way of understanding the verbal concept. The radiating presentation of Art's domains is also consistent with the mnemonic function of the image.
A further example of Oresme's visual imagination and wit is the next and last figure of the upper register of Figures 34 and 34a, Prudence, or Practical Wisdom (Phronesis ). In Aristotle's ethical system, Prudence has a key role, as it embodies "the power of good deliberation" in human affairs.[38] Practical Wisdom guides activity in both individual and political affairs through reason "with regard to things good and bad for men."[39] As noted earlier, this type of wisdom, one of the four cardinal virtues, had for obvious reasons long been associated with the ideal ruler. Book VI of Oresme's translation of the Ethics discusses Prudence in ten of the seventeen chapters. Moreover, Oresme's commentary in the last chapter speaks of Prudence as a cardinal virtue and voices pragmatic considerations about various levels of interaction with the other virtues.[40] In addition, Chapter 9 explores the connections between practical and political wisdom.[41] Oresme then goes on to explain the parts of Prudence, some of which directly involve the political process itself.[42] The glossary of difficult words provides six (of a total of fifty-two) definitions relating to the parts and qualities of Prudence.[43] Thus, Oresme's verbal definition is consistent with the central importance of Practical Wisdom in individual and political conduct.
The image of Prudence is compressed and cryptic, as spare and contained as Art is expansive. But both virtues stand in a dignified, frontal position. Prudence's hands are crossed on the hips of her draped mantle and lend an illusory repose to her figure, for below her nunlike head covering a strange apparition appears. A grotesque, mummified set of features, highlighted by sunken eyes and gaping teeth, stares out at the reader. Further study of the masklike head with a triangular protuberance on each cheek turns out to reveal three faces—two in profile on left and right and a central frontal one.[44] This is the vultus trifrons , an iconographic type with antique roots.[45] The three faces are identical and refer both to past, present, and future aspects of time and to Prudence's three psychological faculties associated with them: memory, intelligence, and foresight. The appearance of Prudence as a death's-head or skull also is a characteristic of this iconographic tradition.[46]
Whether this startling image was intelligible to the contemporary reader is a legitimate question. Oresme, however, was not convinced that the visual definition alone was sufficient to convey the trifrons symbolism. An inscription was added to explain the threefold orientation and faculties of Prudence: "Mémoire des choses passées, ordenance des présentes, provisions pour celles à venir" (Memory of things past, ordering of things present, provision for those to come).
Oresme's instructions were apparently misunderstood, so that the words were placed not above Prudence's head but over that of Sapience, below. Surprisingly enough, the source of the inscription does not occur in Oresme's translation. This literary formulation goes back at least to Cicero, whereas its medieval history can be traced to a sixth-century bishop, Martin of Braga. Martin's formula, thought to be an authentic writing of Seneca, found its way into medieval encyclopedias. Martin's words on Prudence are almost identical to those of the inscription in Figure 34: "set in order the present, foresee the future, recall the past."[47] Among the popular late-medieval encyclopedias mentioned by Erwin Panofsky as a source of the tripartite definition of Prudence is the Repertorium morale of Pierre Bersuire,[48] whose influential French translation of Livy was discussed in Chapter 1.
The Ciceronian tripartite division of Prudence and her intellectual capacities is also found in Mirror of Princes texts. In the French translation of Giles of Rome's De regimine principum executed for Philip the Fair, the three capacities of Prudence are considered necessary qualities for the ideal ruler.[49] The Morgan Avis du roys (fols. 27v–28v) also stresses the necessity for the king to have memory of the past to ordain the future and to provide for the present. In the Summa theologica (2a 2ae 49) Thomas Aquinas follows an eight-part division of Prudence in which the three capacities are included.[50] In short, many medieval sources made the inscription originally intended for Prudence in Figure 34 an obvious choice for explication of the trifrons aspect of the image.
In contrast, direct visual sources for Prudence are difficult to find, particularly in northern art. Relevant as an analogous type of knowledge is the tripartite crown worn by Philosophy. This personification figured in a miniature of the Hortus deliciarum (now destroyed), the famous twelfth-century encyclopedia compiled by Herrad of Landsberg.[51] In Christian iconography the tricephalic head also symbolizes opposing concepts of good and evil: the Holy Trinity and Beelzebub.[52] More immediate precedents for the iconography of Prudence come from trecento Italy. In addition to a fresco representing a trifrons in Pistoia cathedral dated 1347, an illuminated frontispiece of a Bible shows a two-headed Prudence among the virtues surrounding King Robert of Anjou.[53] The motif of the death's-head in Figure 34 may also have been suggested by the skeleton featured in the story of the Three Living and the Three Dead. A famous example of this type is the bifolio in the Psalter of Bonne of Luxembourg, mother of Charles V.[54]
Once again, Oresme's choice of an image reflects his predilection for a visual riddle. In the case of Prudence, the need for an explanatory inscription, which was then misplaced, shows that sometimes his imagination and learning may have led to overambitious experiments. To put it another way, the didactic goals of the cycle in C gave rise to complex, as well as complete, visual definitions. On some occasions the scribe and miniaturists capably translated Oresme's instructions into an intelligible, aesthetically pleasing sequence of images. For various reasons, not easy to explain, other attempts were less successful. While certainly arresting, the personification of Prudence belongs to the category of daring and memorable illustrations. Perhaps these representations served as talking points for Oresme's oral explication requested by his patron.
Entendement and Sapience:
The Lower Register
The two intellectual virtues of the lower register stand out against the checkerboard pattern of the dark blue and gold background. Entendement and Sapience are more isolated from one another than are Science, Art, and Prudence, above. The empty space between them leaves the center of the composition open, thus emphasizing the importance of Art in the upper register. Although Entendement, like the parallel figure of Science directly above her, sits on a thronelike bench and faces to the right, she is far larger than her sister virtue. As noted earlier, one reason for such a disparity in scale is that the lower zone houses two instead of three figures. Furthermore, Entendement is not equipped with any identifying attributes, such as Science's book and lectern. Entendement (Intelligence) also dwarfs the figure of Sapience or Theoretical Wisdom (Sophia ) with whom she shares the lower register. Sapience is also seated on another familiar throne-bench. Yet the reduced size of her figure results from the inclusion of the accompanying celestial vision and the misplaced inscription. The net effect of the disparity in scale is to diminish Sapience in favor of Entendement. This emphasis may be unintentional, since in Oresme's translation and Aristotle's text, Sapience holds the highest place.
The unusual emphasis on Entendement is surprising, given the succinct definition of the virtue in Chapter 6 of Aristotle's text and Oresme's translation. Entendement (the equivalent of the Greek term Nous ) is translated variously as comprehension, intuitive reason, or intelligence. As Oresme puts it, Entendement is the way "nous cognoisson les premiers principes; et la vertu intellective par quoy nous les cognoisson, c'est entendement" (we recognize the first principles; and the intellective power by which we recognize them is understanding).[55] In this same gloss, Oresme cautions that the word entendement is used in a different sense from that in Chapter 2, where it means a division or faculty of the soul.
These specific philosophical and Aristotelian meanings of entendement may have presented problems of visual definition, compounded by the multiple meanings of the word in contemporary language. Thus, representation of Entendement called for a visual formula free of verbal reinforcement or elaborate attributes. The image in Figure 34 depends solely on body language. Entendement's slightly bent head conveys a state of alertness. Her raised right shoulder and left hand with fingers held upright and spread apart suggest a tense, almost listening attitude. Her outstretched and bent right hand, crossed over the left at shoulder level, further contributes to a sense of inner awareness and of internal recognition. Together, the pose and gesture express the idea of straining to grasp a concept or principle. Pictured as a mature, solid form contained within her generously draped mantle, Entendement appears to listen to an inner voice. Although the intensity of Entendement's awareness recalls similar qualities among the seated Sibyls of Giovanni Pisano's Pistoia and Pisa pulpits, the virtue is entirely self-sufficient and free of explicit religious context.[56] Among the representations of the intellectual virtues of Figure 34, Entendement is preeminent both in size and expression.
In contrast to Entendement, Sapience is a slightly formed, almost wraithlike figure. Unlike her counterpart in Figure 33, Sapience no longer needs a book to reveal the subjects of her contemplation. With hands in an attitude of prayer, she sharply turns her upraised head to gaze at the figures of God and the angels. Separated from Sapience by a cloud and outlined in gold, the heavenly apparition changes from its earlier formulation in Figure 33. The blessing figure of Christ is still cross-nimbed but now is bearded. His bust is frontal and occupies the center, not the corner, of the heavenly space. On each side, three angels in praying attitudes turn toward him and create a symmetrical composition. The increased equilibrium of the heavenly component makes an impression of greater order than the analogous group of Figure 33. Yet Christ (or possibly God the Father) no longer returns the gaze of Sapience, as he did in Figure 33. Here, Sapience has become more active than her counterpart in A . The precedent for her sharply turned head and heaven-directed glance lies in another type of Evangelist portrait in which the saint turns his head toward the symbol of his inspiration.[57]
As discussed above, the placement of the inscription intended for Prudence above the head of the Sapience scene diminishes its importance not only by reducing the size of the main figure but also by introducing an extraneous and misleading verbal element. The inscription sits oddly on the heads of the heavenly hosts. It ignores the enframement and extends awkwardly into the right margin. The position in the middle of the cloud formation of Sapience's identifying inscription also indicates alterations in the original design.[58] Misplacement of the inscription flaws the representations of, and distinctions between, the two types of Wisdom, the most important of Aristotle's five intellectual virtues.
The origins of Sapience reveal that a variety of personifications relied on relatively few iconographic types for representational formulas. Among these, the reading or inspired Evangelist appears as the most versatile. The models for secular images such as the blacksmith are much rarer, although several cycles of the mechanical arts existed.[59] The image of Art in Figure 34, however, shows how religious types migrated to the secular sphere. Both the frontality and the deployment of the symbols of the arts and crafts lend the unusual working-class female depiction of Art a solemnity and dignity normally associated with religious or royal iconography.
The compelling qualities of Art, Prudence, and Entendement are further evidence that Oresme held with Thomist artificial memory theories in selecting visually distinctive images to express moral concepts.[60] He also enjoyed composing visual riddles or encouraged the reader to participate in naming or identifying essential aspects of a concept encoded in the visual image. Oresme's role in setting ambitious goals for the revised program may have resulted from a challenge presented by and for his primary reader and patron, Charles V.