The idea of the body as a mirror of the soul has fascinated mankind throughout history. Being able to see through an individual, and drawing conclusions on their character solely based on a selection of external features, is the subject of physiognomy, and has a long tradition running well into recent times. However, the pre-modern, especially medieval background of this discipline has remained underexplored. The selected case studies in this volume each contribute to a better understanding of the history of physiognomy from antiquity to the Renaissance, and offer discussions on unedited treatises and on the application, development, and reception of this field of knowledge, as well as on visual sources inspired by physiognomic theory.

Contributors: Enikő Békés (Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Joël Biard (University of Tours), Lisa Devriese (KU Leuven), Maria Fernanda Ferrini (University of Macerata), Christophe Grellard (École Pratique des Hautes Études), Luís Campos Ribeiro (University of Lisbon), Maria Michela Sassi (University of Pisa), Oleg Voskoboynikov (Higher School of Economics Moscow), Steven J. Williams (New Mexico Highlands University), Joseph Ziegler (University of Haifa), Gabriella Zuccolin (University of Pavia) 

This publication is GPRC-labeled (Guaranteed Peer-Reviewed Content).

Table des matières :

Illustrations 
Acknowledgements 
Lisa Devriese – Physiognomy from Antiquity to the Renaissance : an Introduction 
Maria Michela Sassi – The Beginnings of Physiognomy in Ancient Greece 
Maria Fernanda Ferrini – Oἰνωποί/Aἰγωποί: Manuscript Tradition and Conjecture 
Enikő Békés – The Physiognomy of Apostle Paul: Between Texts and Images 
Steven J. Williams – Some Observations on the Scholarly Reception of Physiognomy in the Thirteenth and Early Fourteenth Century: Success, and the Limits of Success
Lisa Devriese – First Medieval Attestations of the Physiognomonica
Oleg Voskoboynikov – Michael Scotus’ Physiognomy: Notes on Text and Context 
Joël Biard and Christophe Grellard – La place des Questiones circa librum de physionomia dans le système philosophique de Jean Buridan
Gabriella Zuccolin – Towards a Critical Edition of Michele Savonarola’s Speculum Physionomie 
Joseph Ziegler and Luís Campos Ribeiro – Astral Physiognomy in the Fifteenth Century : the Case of the Illuminated Opening Folio of Rolandus Scriptoris’ Reductorium Phisonomie
Notes on Contributors 
Index codicum manu scriptorum 
Index nominum 

Informations pratiques :

The Body as a Mirror of the Soul. Physiognomy from Antiquity to the Renaissance, ed. by Lisa Devriese, Louvain, Leuven University Press, 2021. 232 p., 23,5 x 15,5 cm. ISBN : 9789462702929. Prix : 49,50 euros.

Source : Leuven University Press