Jeremiah, Trumeau, South Porch, St. Pierre Church

We finished our treatment of Jeremiah in OT-3 class this morning. We started the discussion with a look at the above image of Jeremiah brought in by my student Shivaun, who had enjoyed studying it in her medieval art history courses. It is from the Abbaye St-Pierre de Moissac, which was on the pilgrims route during the Middle Ages and is generally considered a treasure of Romanesque architecture. Shivaun had several interesting observations about this figure, which for her communicates something of the intense emotions and suffering of Jeremiah. The animated body reveals the passionate nature of the soul within. There was a good bit of discussion of how he displays a scroll where his prophetic vision is written. It was the burning Word of God that he bore as a prophet in the tradition of Moses that created such pathos and polarity of emotion in his interactions with God and with his fellow Judeans.