The Role of Color
Pamela Patton explores religious meanings around varying displays of Blackness in medieval art. Early Christian theologians believed Blackness to be an external manifestation of sinfulness.
You can learn about this image from the Victoria and Albert Museum here!...moral blackness became a metaphor so powerful that they could describe the newly baptized as literally whitened by the washing away of their sins.
Patton shows how color and religion also extended the reach of Christianity. She briefly discusses the case of Black Madonna or Black Virgin Mary and shares a common theory that the Black Virgin could have function to convert people of color to Christianity. (add more detail here) She continues by stating that today, religious figures' identities may also be strengthened by their skin color and thus connect them to the communities that respect them.
Patton states that color can also point to geographic origins outside of European lands. The British Library homes a manuscript titled Travels of Sir John Mandeville that I think explores this idea of geographic origins and color. If you navigate over to folio 30r, you can see what I'm about to cover.
What I noticed about this folio (folio 30r) was the stark contrast between the blue figures at the top of the page and the pale figures at the bottom. The blue figures are covered in cloaks and their feet are abnormally long. When compared to their pale counterparts with small noses and gentle eyes, they have snout-like noses and larger eyes. Deborah Strickland discusses this in her chapter “Monstrosity and Race in the Late Middle Ages"
The main elements of monstrosity would appear to be remote location, unusual physical form, and bizarre behavior.
When I think about Barlett's explanation of gens and natio and consider the elements of monstrosity described by Strickland, it seems clear to me how the two concepts relate to physical appearance, such as skin pigmentation. It's important to note how broad the categories are and groups people in blanket statements. For medieval poeple, monstrosity was the operative concept because it relied on location, physical appearance, and behavior. When we think about the way Fordun wrote about the lowland Scotts for their behavior and location, it's important to question what happened when where were people of color as well.
We will briefly explore this question with Nadia Altschul.