ABSTRACT
The border which surrounds ‘The Crowning with Thorns’ is painted in matt gold and occupied by a series of overlayed scenes which symbolically refer to the central event of the miniature where, momentarily, evil exerts its might over the right of good. The paucity of contemporary pictures representing medieval theatre performance has had two major consequences. On the one hand the few undisputed illustrations that do survive, like Jean Fouquet’s ‘Martyrdom of St Apollonia’, tend to be regarded with disproportionate respect as evidence of theatre practice whilst, on the other hand, new proposals are greeted with deep suspicion. The locating of it, though, in the type of place known to have accommodated performance of various kinds, in part by utilizing a curtain behind the action, provides theatrical evidence of some strength if less spectacular than that recorded by Jean Fouquet.
