ABSTRACT
Romanesque images of patronage commonly show a donor offering or transferring a miniature model of a gift. A relatively novel type of image, however, emerged in the 11th and 12th centuries where text played an unprecedented role. This paper proposes to view that new iconography in relation to transformative quality of the written word in those centuries. Diplomatics especially – with its attendant notarial formulas and language, seals and sealing, rituals and performances – brought new consequences for the relationship of the donor to his or her donation. Significantly, this development extended to lay, including non-royal, individuals, and this paper argues that imagery increasingly portrayed the laity as having agency in the diplomatic handling of their donations. Some images show patrons in the act of preparing a charter of donation themselves, while others show them as readers of their gift’s diplomatic record, and still others position lay donors as diplomatic authorities managing written records. The imagery points to donors’ growing implication as actors in the specifically textual culture of diplomatics, positing the patron as a ‘literate’ agent of that culture. It also presents an unexpected picture of how claims to the power of ‘literacy’ gradually became part of a visual language of donation.
