“L’art d’aimer du Moyen Âge: Le Roman de la rose”

The Roman de la Rose Digital Library is currently being featured in an important exhibition called “L’art d’aimer du Moyen Âge: Le Roman de la rose” at the Bibliothèque de l’Arsenal in Paris. The exhibition began on 6 November 2012 and will close 13 February 2013. The exhibition displays around 100 manuscripts and a few printed editions.

The exposition is organized according to two approaches: telling the story literally via manuscript images that portray the narrative (featuring “Français 1574“), and allegorically, also using manuscript images illustrative of this important aspect of the work.  Panels of miniatures allow viewers to obtain a synthesis of the work’s different sections.

On January 18, 2013 there will be a day-long workshop in which a group of Roman de la Rose scholars will discuss the question “Why should one read the Roman de la Rose today?”.  Professor Stephen Nichols of the Johns Hopkins University will close the exhibition with a lecture about how and why digitization makes reading the Rose more meaningful today.

Portrait of Covoitise from Fr. 378

Finally, the newest issue (no. 42) of the journal “Art de l’enluminure” features two articles about the Roman de la Rose. The first article discusses Fr. 378 and Rothschild 2800 and the second covers Fr. 25526.  We are always interested in hearing about your Roman de la Rose scholarship, so please keep us informed via the “contact us” on the website.