Last Friday, 7th of May 2021, Joseph T. Snow inaugurated the conference cycle “La Celestina: Representaciones de un clásico” at the Aulas de Extensión Universitaria of the Universidad de Cantabria (Spain) with a paper entitled “Un clásico en escena por el mundo”, in which he shared with the in-person and virtual audience his knowledge about the stage adaptations of Celestina. His talk was streamed via Youtube and the recorded version is now available for everyone who, like me, missed the date to watch (embedding is disabled for this video, therefore, I give the URL).
Remember that the conference cycle continues this week with the paper “Referentes pictóricos del teatro: Celestina y compañía” by Natalia Fernández (Universidad de Sevilla), which will take place at the Paraninfo of the Universidad de Cantabria, Sala Fray Antonio de Guevara, tomorrow, Tuesday 11th of May 2021 at 19:30. More information and bookings here (I do not know if it will be streamed AND recorded, as well).
After having systematically related the human figures of the Burgos Comedia to the corresponding factotum figures of the Strasbourg, Johannes Grüninger, 1496 edition of Terence’s Comoediae, I have spent some time looking for the most likely models for the factotum figures of the earliest Tragicomedias, more concretely, the Crombergerian series and the Valencia 1514 series. Not surprisingly at all, both series are for the greatest part dependent on Grüninger’s edition as well, but they do not resort to the very same models
Some debts are really evident. For example, there is no doubt that several factotum figures of the Sevilla, Jacobo Cromberger, 1502 [1511] edition of the Tragicomedia are more or less free copies of certain factotum figures of Grüninger’s edition: at least eight out of nineteen. The figure representing Alisa in act XVI of the Tragicomedia is almost an exact copy of the figure of the Nutrix in Heautont timoroumenos. Mirror copies of Syrus, Sannio and Symo are used to represent Pármeno, Sempronio and Centurio (Syrus), Pármeno, Sosia and Centurio (Sannio), and Pleberio (Symo). Three of the young female figures are mirrored copies of young female figures in Grüninger’s edition up to their heads: headpieces and hairstyles are different, but everything else is alike. Something similar can be said of the factotum figure representing Celestina with a rosary in her hands, with both hands on her bosom: it looks as if Mirrhina’s factotum figure had been given a rosary.
Tragicomedia, Sevilla 1502 [1511], I Heauton timoroumenos, fol. LXIXv
Tragicomedia, Sevilla 1502 [1511], VI Adelphoe, fol. XCIIr
Tragicomedia, Sevilla 1502 [1511], VIII Heauton timoroumenos, fol. LXIXv
Tragicomedia, Sevilla 1502 [1511], III Adelphoe, fol. XCVIIIv
Tragicomedia, Sevilla 1502 [1511], IV Eunuchus, fol. XXXIIIIv
Tragicomedia, Sevilla 1502 [1511], XVI Heauton timoroumenos, fol. LXXIIIIv
Tragicomedia, Sevilla 1502 [1511], XVI Andria, fol. IIIr
Tragicomedia, Sevilla 1502 [1511], IV Ecyra, fol. CLXVr
For Grüninger’s factotum figures, I use the digital facsimile of the Universitäts und Landesbibliothek Darmstadt. For the Tragicomedia‘s factotum figures, I use my own research photos taken at the British Library.
By contrast, there are almost no direct correspondences between the human figures of the Valencia 1514 edition of the Tragicomedia and those of Grüninger’s edition. Only three out of the twenty-six differentfigures can be connected to another figure in Grüniger’s edition, and not as definitely as in the former case. The design for Melibea seems to have been taken from the design for Antiphila, with which it shares the headpiece, the position of the hands and, to a certain extent, the dress, despite some differences regarding the shoulders and the lenght of the overskirt. The design for Celestina in act IV is reminiscent of the representation of Syra in the full-page woodcut of the Ecyra, especially when it comes to the position of the hands, but their clothing is different: Celestina wears some kind of cloak that covers her almost entirely.
Tragicomedia, Valencia 1514, I and X
Tragicomedia, Valencia 1514, IV
Heautontimoroumenos, fol. LXIXv.
Ecyra (title page), fol. CLVIr
For the Tragicomedia‘s factotum figures, I use the the B/W images of the portal ATENEX, but also the digital facsimile of the Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes.
However, the interesting bit is that, even when there is no direct correspondence between the human figures in Grüninger’s edition of Terence and the Spanish Tragicomedias, the influence of the former can be felt everywhere. This is particularly evident in the case of the figures that represent the servants and Centurio. For example, in the Valencia 1514 edition of the Tragicomedia, the doublet worn by Pármeno and Sempronio looks very much like the doublet worn by Therea, even in details: the slits on the front, the baggy embellishments on elbows and shoulders… Moreover, their breeches and hose (and the first Centurio’s and Sosia’s) look very much like Dorax’ (and like Sannio’s, in the case of the second Centurio). Sosia’s design even wears the turbant-like headpiece of Dorax’ representation in the full-page woodcut of Eunuchus, while the first Centurio holds a spearlike weapon in his hand that plays no role in his characterisation but is important for Dorax’. As a result, it seems as if these figures where created by combining elements that were present in some of Grüninger’s human figures.
Tragicomedia, Valencia 1514, I and II
Tragicomedia, Valencia 1514, II and VI
Tragicomedia, Valencia 1514, XVII and XV
Tragicomedia, Valencia 1514, XVII
Eunuchus, fol. XXXVIr
Eunuchus (title page), fol. XLIXv
Adelphoe, fol. XCII
Eunuchus (title page), fol. XXVIIIv
In this order: Pármeno, Sempronio, Centurio, Sosia.
This is not exclusive of the factotum figures of the Valencia 1514 Tragicomedia. The Sevilla 1502 [1511] ones also convey a similar feeling. For example, there is something in the baggy sleeves of Sempronio and Dorio, and their similar posture, that make them look alike. The same aplies to the wrinkled piece of cloth in the neck of both Celestina and Lena, and the position of their hands.
Tragicomedia, Sevilla 1502 [1511], XII Phormio, fol. CLXIr
Tragicomedia, Sevilla 1502 [1511], III Ecyra, fol. CLIIr
Not so sure about these.
Furthermore, I cannot avoid thinking that there is something that feels “German” about how the servants and Centurio are dressed, but I might be wrong, as I am no 16th-century fashion specialist and, actually, striped hoses/breeches were very popular among Italians, as well, and probably fashionable in Spain at the beginning of the century.
In any case, as I see it, there is no doubt that the influence of Grüninger’s 1496 edition of Terence is also to be felt in the early Tragicomedias, but progressively reduced to a set of characteristics that can be combined to design new figures that make them different from the original but still reminds us of it. The so-created figures are then combined with new ones that are not dependent on Grüninger’s series and which, at first sight, try to reflect a more Spanish context. However, this is a topic for another post.
If you are subscribed to the Celestina mailing list, you are already familiar with this recording of the paper Vanessa Pintado (Hispanic Society Museum & Library Assistant Curator of Manuscripts and Rare Books) read at the Tertulias de Arte Hispano of the Hispanic Society of America. I have to thank Enrique Fernández (once more!) for this information.
Last 1st of September, Vanessa Pintado made this general overview of her work on Celestina and, more precisely, on the unique copy of the Burgos Comedia (in English). There are interesting details on the history of this very rare copy and the problematic status of its last page, with the printer’s device, which ellaborate on previous work by John O’Neill (Curator of Manuscripts and Rare Books at the Hispanic Society of America) and the research of expert book historians.
A preliminary approach to some of the issues highlighted in the presentation can be found in the speaker’s contribution to the edited volume De la piedra al pixel : reflexiones en torno a las edades del libro (México: UNAM, 2016), with the title “El impresor Fadrique de Basilea y los grabados de La Celestina de Burgos de 1499″.
For O’Neill’s work on the history of the Burgos Comedia, please see his “Of Forgeries and French Bibliophiles: A Re-examination of the Printer’s Device Found in the Burgos Edition of Celestina” in Two Spanish Masterpieces. A Celebration of the Life and Work of María Rosa Lida de Malkiel (New York: HSMS, 2013).
The Real Academia Española has made available through its Youtube channel the recording of the 2014 dramatic reading of selected passages of Celestina in the context of the cycle Cómicos de la Lengua.
The dramatic readings of Cómicos de la lengua were part of the celebration of the 300th anniversary of the Real Academia Española, which took place last 2014. The corresponding recordings are now free to watch for the first time since that year, and Celestina is not the only Spanish classic represented. The full-range of dramatised readings (14) can be found in the playlist Cómicos de la lengua, which includes dramatised readings of the Cantar de mio Cid or the Libro de buen amor, among others.
That the woodcuts of the Burgos Comedia are inspired by the illustrations of Grüninger’s edition of Terence’s Comoediae (Strasbourg, 1496 and 1499) is a commonplace since Clara Louise Penney noted this relationship in her The Book Called “Celestina” in the Library of the Hispanic Society of America (1954). Several scholars have ellaborated on this statement, specially Erna Berndt-Kelley (“Mute Commentaries on a Text: The Illustrations of the Comedia de Calisto y Melibea“, 1993) and Clive Griffin (“Celestina‘s Illustrations”, 2001). However, as far as I know, none of the scholars that have devoted some time to exploring the relationship between the characters on the illustrations of the Burgos Comedia and the Strasbourg Comoediae has published a detailed and systematic comparison of the illustrations of both editions, nor identified the exact models for each figure. Therefore, I am sharing with you my own research materials on this topic. While this gets a final written, publishable form, please acknowledge this post if you are using it in your own research.
The tables below include a visual comparison of the individual characters of the Burgos Comedia with their potential counterparts in Grüninger’s Comoediae. Certainty varies from figure to figure, in particular in the case of the most secondary figures, but there are a few quite sure identifications: Calisto’s, Melibea’s, Alisa’s, Pleberio’s and most of Sempronio’s and Pármeno’s.
For this purpose, I have used the digital facsimiles of the Burgos Comedia and the Strasbourg Comoediae respectively available at TeXTReD and the digital library of the Universitäts und Landesbibliothek Darmstadt.
Calisto
Act I, fol. a1r [a2r]
Eunuchus, factotum figure, fol. XXXVIIIv.
Act I, fol. a1v [a2v]
Eunuchus, full-page woodcut, fol. XXVIIIv.
Eunuchus, factotum figure, fol. XXXv.
In the first case, identification with the factotum figure of Traso in “Eunuchus” needs no further explanation. Figures are inverted but identical. In the second case, identification with Traso, as portrayed in the full-page initial woodcut of “Eunuchus”, needs no further explanation either, but it is worth taking the factotum figure of Parmeno in the same work into account because of the darker stripes.
Melibea
Act I, fol. a1r [a2r]
Heautontimoroumenos, factotum figure, fol. XLIr.
Act XII, fol. i7r.
Eunuchus, full-page woodcut, fol. XXVIIIv.
Act XIV, fol. i2v.
Ecyra, full-page woodcut, fol. CLVIr.
In the first case, the identification with the factotum figure of Pitias in “Heautontimoroumenos” is widely known. However, I have not seen the richly dressed Melibea of act XII identified with the Thais of the full-page initial woodcut of “Eunuchu”s, despite their dresses and hairstyles being identical, but inverted. Less evident is the identification with the factotum figure of Bacchis in “Ecyra”, but it is the only figure that justifies Melibea’s hairstyle and direct look into the reader’s eyes.
Sempronio
Act I, fol. a1v [a2v]
Phormio, full-page woodcut, fol. CXVIv.
Act II, fol. c2r.
Heautontimoroumenos, factotum figure, fol. LXIXv.
Act III, fol. c5v.
Phormio, factotum figure, fol. CXLv.
In the first and the second cases, the identification with, respectively, the Phedria of the sull-page initial woodcut of “Phedria” and the factotum figure of Clinia in “Heautontimoroumenos” (although this is one of the factotum figures that appears more frequently in Grüninger’s edition, most of the time without any name in the band above his head) is quite self-evident, despite inversion. I am not do sure of the third example, however, I considered it relevant because Geta’s factotum figure in “Phormio” is the only one that wears the cape in a way similar to how Sempronio wears his in the Burgos “Comedia”. Their swords also hang very similarly. The head is, however, the same as in the previous cases.
Parmeno’s identification is not as self-evident as in the previous cases, but I think that it is still very clear. In the first case, it is true that there are some differences regarding the factotum figure of Carinus in “Andria” (how the sword hangs, the jerkin’s lenght) but the general impression is quite similar. In the second case, the stripes of Clitipho’s factotum figure in “Heautontimoroumenos” are too representative for an influence not having taken place, even if the hats are different.
Celestina has many models, but the main ones are the Sostrata of the full-page intial woodcut of “Heautontimoroumenos”, the Mirina of the full-page intial woodcut of “Ecyra” and the factotum figure of Sira in the same work. All of them share the bag that hangs to the side of Celestina in the Burgos “Comedia”. The pleats of Celestina’s skirt derive, by contrast, from several factotum figures representing old-woman or lenae-like characters. Similarly, the positions of her hands can sometimes be associated to these factotum figures.
Elicia
Act III, fol. c5v.
Phormio, factotum figure, fol. CXLIXr.
Adelphae, full-page woodcut, fol. LXXXVIr.
Act IX, fol. g8v.
Phormio, full-page woodcut, fol. CXVIv.
Adelphae, factotum figure, fol. XCVIIIv.
To identify Elicia, I focused on her hairstyle. In both cases, I consider my first proposed model to be more likely than the second one. However, the second options are to be considered as well.
Areúsa
Act IX, fol. g8v.
Ecyra, full-page woodcut, fol. CLVIr.
Phormio, full-page woodcut, fol. CXVIv.
As in Elicia’s case, I focused on Areúsa’s hairstyle. Equally, the first proposed model seems much more likely thann the second one to me, but it is worth taking it into account.
Pleberio
Act XV, fol. l5r.
Andria, full-page woodcut, fol. Iv.
Andria, factotum figure, fol. IIIr.
Pleberio’s identification with the character of Symo in “Andria”, either as factotum figure or as the design for the full-page initial woodcut, is self-evident and known since long.
Alisa
Act X, fol. h7r.
Ecyra, full-page woodcut, fol. CLVIr.
Despite inversion, Alisa’s identification with the Sostrata of the full-page initial woodcut of “Ecyra” is quite self-evident as well. In some instances, the Burgos artist does neither include the rosary/necklace nor the flower shaped detail on Alisa’s neckline, but it is very clearly the same figure.
Lucrecia
Act IX, fol. g8v.
Eunuchus, full-page woodcut, fol. XXVIIIv.
This is one of the less convinving identificatios, however, the Ethiopissa of the full-page initial woodcut of “Eunuchus” is the only female character that bows her head, a characterising feature of Lucrecia’s representation in the Burgos “Comedia”, so that it could be relevant. Moreover, the heairstyle and the dress are very similar.
Sosia
Act XIII, fol. k8r.
Phormio, factotum figure, fol. CXXIIIv.
Adelphae, factotum figure, fol. XCIIIv.
Sosia’s identification is even less convincing than Lucrecia’s, with elements from both the factotum figure of Thesipho in “Adelphae” (head) and the factotum figure of Demiphos in “Phormio” (clothing). However, the main features are from Demiphos, so that the Burgos artist could simply have designed a more appropriate head for Sosia, who is not an old man with beard. Not for nothing, his head looks similar to other servant’s heads.
Tristán
Act XIII, fol. k8r.
Adelphae, full-page woodcut, fol. LXXXVIr.
Adelphae, factotum figure, fol. XCr.
Tristán’s identification is not very convincing, either. I see similarities with the character of Eschimus as both factotum figure and element of the full-page initial woodcut of “Adelphae”, for example, the position of the hands, the cape and the hat. Therefore, I think this should be taken into account.
Finally, I am quite convinced of the influence of the factotum figure of Clitipho in “Heautontimoroumenos” for the second representation of Alisa’s page, but not so much of the influence of the factotum figure of Demea in “Adelphae” on the first. However, clothes are exactly the same, so that it is not unlikely that there was an influence.
Extra
Act XII, fol. i7r.
Eunuchus, page-wide woodcut, fol. XLIXv.
Eunuchus, full-page woodcut, fol. XXVIIIv.
One of the most evident debts of the Burgos “Comedia” with Grüninger’s edition of Terence’s “Comoediae” is this scene in act XII. The artist has obviously mixed both ocurrences of the armed men group in both the full-page initial woodcut and the page-wide inner woodcut of “Eunuchus”. Pármeno looks like Dorax in the page-wide woodcut, Sempronio looks like Dorax in the full-page woodcut and Calisto looks like Traso in the two of them. Only their relative positions are changed, probably because the third man in the armed men group of the Strasbourg edition is not to be seen clearly enough.
Something very interesting about this analysis is that not only every character of the Burgos Comedia has a suitable model in Grüninger’s edition of Terence’s Comoediae, but that the distribution between models that are factotum figures and models that appear in the full-page illustrations that open each piece (and the exceptional page-wide scene of Eunuchus) is almost even. This is important because we identify Grüninger’s Terence with factotum figures and we forget that it includes eight full-page illustrations, two representing a theatre and six preceeding each comedy. These portray the characters in the correspoding urban or rural settings of the piece, introduce them to the reader, and show explicitly how they are related with lines that connect them. However, what interests me most is that their composition as whole scenes approaches them to the page-wide scenes of the Burgos Comedia. Moreover, there is one occurrence of a page-wide illustration that is conceived as an unitary scene as well, like the page-wide illustrations of the Burgos Comedia themselves. As a result, it is evident that the influence of Grüninger’s edition is not limited to its factotum figures, but it goes well beyond that, includes its full-page and page-wide scenes, and could justify to a certain extent why the Burgos Comedia does not use factotum figures itself: both full-page/page-wide scenes and page-wide scenes composed with factotum figures where suitable for illustrating Terence and Terence-like works. Not for nothing, Konrad Dinckmut’s 1486 edition of a German version of Eunuchus exclusively resorts to full-page scenes while the 15c. Terence manuscripts only depict scenes as well. Therefore, we should stop equalling Terence with factotum figures and start considering the greater freedom printers had when printing his Comoediae and drama in general.