"Lur fayt, lur vida, lur ventura, tot so divisav'en pintura". Zum Gebrauch der Ekphrasis bei Guillem de Torroella. Mit einem Ausblick auf Anselm Turmeda und Joanot Martorell

Abstract

In medieval literature, descriptions of works of art add extra meanings to the narrative. E. g. in Guillem de Torroella’s La Faula images of lovers on Guillem’s saddle and stained glass windows depicting the Knights of the Round Table in King Arthur’s palace represent two subject matters which are of great importance in courtly literature: fin amor and chevalerie. Furthermore, the glass-paintings show images of an idealized past and can therefore be related antithetically to King Arthur’s lament on the decay of
courtly values. Consequently the description of artworks forms an essential part of the text’s allegorical message. In Anselm Turmeda’s Cobles de la divisió del regne de Mallorques, a short ekphrasis similarly introduces heroes of the past into the narrative to serve as counterpart to a decadent present, whereas in the Tirant lo Blanc murals showing lovers and Christian knights
anticipate the story’s principal subject matters.
Keywords: Ekphrasis, allegorical writing, Catalan literature / 1350–1500, Guillem de Torroella / La Faula, Anselm Turmeda / Cobles de la divisió del regne de Mallorques, Joanot Martorell / Tirant lo Blanc.