Body politic

Författare/Upphovsman:

OkändUnknown author

Kreditera:

Following Chaucer: Offices of the Active Life Front cover image.

Kort länk:

https://sewiki.info/b/1ab26

Källa:

Wikimedia Commons

Upplösning:

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Beskrivning:

A rare visualization of the body-politic metaphor occurs in the Morgan Avis au roys. Adapted from the iconography of the zodiacal man, a nude, well-porportioned, crowned, and beared male figure represents the physical embodiment of the political body. Inscriptions identify parts of the human body with functions and offices of certain social classes and institutions of government. The resulting hierarchy of political and social values corresponds to the traditional evaluations of the organs of the human body in ancient and medieval anatomical and philosophical texts. For example, occupying the representational and metaphorical top of the hierarchy of the body politic is the king who is its head. As the most distinctive part of the human anatomy, in which the soul, reason, and intelligence, and sensations reside, the head is the ruling principle to which all other parts of the human body and the body politic are subject. Next, associated with the vital human faculties of vision and hearing, the seneschals, bailiffs, and provosts and other judges are compared to the eyes and ears of the body politic. The counsellors and wise men are linked to the essential function of the heart. As defenders of the commonwealth, the knights are identified with the hands. Because of their constant voyages around the world, the merchants are associated with the legs. Finally, laborers, who work close to the earth and support the body, are its feet.

Licens:

Public domain