Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.4623
In book 2, chapter 20, Molanus discusses another matter that is related to the freedom of the artist and the way these elements should be interpreted. In this chapter, the central question is whether the exterior features of religious figures, such as their clothes, height, attributes etc., should be taken literally or whether they are mainly shaped according to artistic convenience; for Molanus it is definitely the latter. His main principle of reasoning is the similarity between paintings and paraboles, which, according to Molanus are “of the same nature as paintings, they are painted equivalents” (Molanus, book 2, chapter 20). Therefore, the same applies to paintings as to paraboles: it would be “absurd” to explain every single detail since it is the figurative meaning that is most important.
In the chapter, Molanus then gives two examples to illuminate his reasoning: the second is the way saints are depicted by painters. Here he explains that their external features, like clothes and attributes, should not be taken literally, since painters follow what is convenient to them and not what was historically accurate. Important to emphasise is that this is not condemned, since these details do not affect the meaning of the artwork.
“The painters depict Jerome in the cardinal’s habit, the one worn by their Eminences, our lords the cardinals; but they do not intend to imply that he was wearing this habit. In fact, the wearing of the red rosary was not extended to them until 1244 by Innocent IV, and the other insignia of their dignity were created by even later pontiffs as we read in St. Onuphrius. Therefore this image means nothing more than this: Father Jerome was a cardinal of the Roman Church.”
“Hieronymum pictores pingunt habitu Cardinalitio, quo nunc utuntur illustrissimo DDn. Cardinales, non ad significandum quod eodem habitu usus ipse fuerit (Galerum enim rubrum dedit eis Innocentius quartus Anno 1244 reliqna eius ordinis insignia posteriores Pontifices excogitarunt, ut habet D. Onuphrius). Quare haec pictura non plus significat, quam Hieronymum Presbyterum fuisse Cardinalem Romanae Ecclesiae.”
Molanus 1996, 180.
