Didacticism Archives | National Humanities Center

Didacticism

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A Courtier’s Mirror: Cultivating Elite Identity in Thomasin Von Zerclaere’s Welscher Gast

By Kathryn Starkey (NHC Fellow, 2008–09) A Courtier's Mirror establishes the unique importance of Thomasin von Zerclaere's Welscher Gast as a document of social practices and concerns in medieval German-speaking court society. This epic-length illustrated didactic poem enjoyed immense popularity in the Middle Ages, resulting in twenty-five redactions produced over two hundred and fifty years. Through a detailed … Continued

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Mani’s Pictures: The Didactic Images of the Manichaeans from Sasanian Mesopotamia to Uygur Central Asia and Tang-Ming China

By Zsuzsanna Gulácsi (NHC Fellow, 2006–07; 2016–17) The founder of Manichaeism, Mani (216-274/277 CE), not only wrote down his teachings to prevent their adulteration, but also created a set of paintings—the Book of Pictures—to be used in the context of oral instruction. That pictorial handscroll and its later editions became canonical art for Mani's followers for … Continued