Artibus et Historiae no. 21 (XI)
1990, ISSN 0391-9064Up
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AHUVA BELKIN - "Death of the Centaur": On a Miniature from Charles D'Angoulême's Book of Hours
The miniature at the beginning of the "Office for the Dead" section from Charles d'Angouleme's Book of Hours depicts a defeated Centaur being ridden by a wild woman while two men and Death attack them furiously. The scene is somewhat problematic. The general understanding is that it represents a Centaur battling the Lapiths. However, the interpretation of the subject as purely mythological does not explain its inclusion in the "Office for the Dead." The article suggests that the miniature expresses the idea common since antiquity, of a contest between man and beast as a symbol of the struggle against dark forces. The Centaur and the wild woman form a single unit-the personification of vice in terms of Christian allegory. The private nature of the Book of Hours leads one to infer that Charles used the allegory of ths struggle with the Vices for his own political vendetta against his rivals, conveying in this enigmatic miniature his bitter enmity towards those who had wronged him.
