Sighting of a ghost (“La vision d’âme”, 1475, Simon Marmion)
And another halloween related painting: This is the only medieval depiction of an invisible ghost. The spectre is located on the left side, apparently holding two books, which seem to hover in the air. If you look close enaught, you can make out a very faint outline of the lower body and two specks, were it’s feet are supposed to be.
The story behind this miniature goes like this: A wealthy citizen, Gui de Corvo, had died and came back from the grave to haunt his widow. Abbot Jean Gobi and some of his men investigated the event and talked to the ghost for two nights in a row, trying to find out, what he wanted from the living.
In this miniature, the abbot and his scribes discuss the possibilities, of how to find out, if the spectre really once was the recently deceased citizen. Well, I guess they didn’t reach a satisfying conclusion and got some books to their foreheads thrown by an angry ghost…
(Quelle: commons.wikimedia.org)
