UNA TEOLOGIA DE LO INFORMAL: EL PLIEGUE Y SU SOMBRA EN EL BENEDICIONAL DE ST. AETHELWOLD

The present article addresses the presence and meaning of a recurring motif in the paintings of the Benedictional of St. AEthelwold (London, British Library, Ms Add 49598). This motif consists of a white line and its translucent shadow. Repeated throughout the manuscript, this formless element ensures in the images the visibility of an invisible presence, that of the Spirit acting in the world in the same way as it acts when pronouncing the blessings copied in the manuscript. This article hypothesizes that the figuration process in the benedictional responds to the mechanisms of medieval abstraction, and transforms this painted detail, regardless its apparent insignificance, into the non-mimetic evidence of the Holy Spirit.