gems, quartz, rock crystal, Medieval period

When, in the medieval period, things, events, and words held importance and aroused interest, it was because they contained a significant degree of hidden meaning. By shedding light on various facets of this official culture, Bruno Roy reveals what he calls the “medieval spirit.” Symbolic practices involving numbers, stones, or aphrodisiacs; comic ambiguities through wordplay, riddles, or spoonerisms; falsifications of texts; misunderstandings surrounding a famous 12th-century Art of Love; or illusions and mysteries in collections of recipes—each of the thirteen studies illustrates, in its own way, the art and manner of ambiguity. Ambiguity is presented as a fundamental value, sought out and cultivated because it alone can account for the richness of the world. The key to the miniature illustrating the cover page will be found in the Epilogue (and not before)…