Article Dans Une Revue Rivista di storia della miniatura Année : 2024

Abul Abbas, Théodulf et Fardulfe : l’éléphant et le paradis sur terre à l’époque carolingienne

Résumé

The article examines the specific iconography of the initial B on f. 9v of the manuscript Latin 2195 of the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris. Bernhard Bischoff once suggested that the depiction of an elephant’s head attached to this initial could be a portrait of Abul Abbas, the elephant given to Charlemagne by the Caliph of Baghdad, Harun Al-Rashid. The article aims firstly to confirm this hypothesis, while at the same time broadening the discussion based on an unpublished exploration of a poem composed by Theodulf of Orléans and offered to the abbot of Saint-Denis, Fardulfus. Here a battle scene between animals is depicted, with the elephant playing a decisive role in understanding the poem’s meaning. Since Latin 2195 was produced in Saint-Denis, the hypothesis is that there is a link between the animal iconography of the initial B and Theodulf ’s poem and the relationship with the contents of the manuscript: Cassiodorus’s com-mentary on the psalms. In the final section, an insight is offered into Charlemagne’s establishment at Aachen of a form of paradise on earth populated by animals, including the elephant Abul Abbas.

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Dates et versions

halshs-05162795 , version 1 (15-07-2025)

Identifiants

Citer

Eric Palazzo. Abul Abbas, Théodulf et Fardulfe : l’éléphant et le paradis sur terre à l’époque carolingienne. Rivista di storia della miniatura, 2024, 28, pp.17-29. ⟨10.48255/2785-4019.RSM.28.2024.01⟩. ⟨halshs-05162795⟩
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