Codex and Volumina in Early Christian Art

Authors

  • Cláudio Monteiro Duarte UNIBH, Belo Horizonte, MG

Abstract

This article deals with the figurative representation of the two main supportsof writing in the Ancient world, viz. the scroll (volumen) and the codex (codex), in earlyChristian iconography, especially in funerary sculpture, beginning with the recognitionof the duplicity of formats in certain works. The great number of works in which scrollsappear, the representation of the roll basket (scrinium), and the presence of the codexin some sarcophagi and Christian frescoes are discussed. Based on the fact that the representationof the codex was an iconographic novelty, the article seeks to clarify whatmight be the cultural resonances provoked by the joint representation of a codex and abasket of books in roll, with the aid of recent discussions on the history of the book inLate Antiquity.

Author Biography

Cláudio Monteiro Duarte, UNIBH, Belo Horizonte, MG

Doutorado em História Social da Cultura - UFMG

Mestrado em Sociologia da Cultura - UFMG

Graduação em História - UFMG

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Published

2020-01-31

Issue

Vol. 24 No. 1 (2020): Janeiro/Abril

Section

Articles

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