Hung up on Judas: A Case Study on the Pragmatic Usage of Religious Iconography in Legal Manuscripts of the Institutiones

This article serves both as survey of illuminated manuscripts the Institutiones and an analysis links between iconography criminal law model Judas hanged. investigation is based on study all digitalised Institutiones. The corpus composed ranging from fifth to fifteenth century, produced over Europe. elucidates how manuscript boomed during thirteenth with Bologna at its heart. production continued growing until fourteenth eventually die down century. world legal manuscript’s illumination was Bologna-centric, however, some competitors, namely France Germany, offered a visual counterpoint understand this great iconography. When developing iconographic cycles around law, two approaches existed. approach developed in Northern Italy incorporated representation either decapitation or presentation prisoner. These illuminators created specific further distinctive identity within field manuscripts, whereas rest Europe adopted uniformly image hanged man. form depiction takes for motif hanged, heavily linking criminality religion.