Recently, I came across a graduation thesis written by a student from the university of Padua (a city not far from Venice), entitled Bianco, nero, rosso. Semantica dei colori nel Perceval o Le conte du Graal (White, black, red. Semantics of colours in Perceval, the Story of the Grail). Perceval is an unfinished verse romance written by Chrétien de Troyes in Old French, in the late 12th century.
In the first part of the thesis, the author traces the history of the colours white, black and red from their origins to the Middle Ages and then examines Chrétien de Troyes' use of these colours in “Perceval”. Some information is already present in this blog and therefore I will not repeat it. I will limit myself to citing the passages that seemed most interesting to me and that I believe have not been covered in this blog, some of which also refer to red hair.  |
| Engraving considered to be a representation of Chrétien de Troyes in his work studio (1530) |
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Goethe himself in his Theory of Colours, a purely scientific work born in opposition to the dominant theory of Isaac Newton in this field, dedicates a very substantial part of the text to the emotions that colours generate in the human soul. As for red, for example, his speech is very specific and notes how not all shades of this colour influence people in the same way: yellow-red transmits delight and is very pleasant for those who observe it, red-yellow expresses great energy and excitement, blue-red makes one restless, while red-blue (for example the purple colour used by the clergy) indicates a continuous tension towards the top. Pure red, finally, represents ideal satisfaction, the highest manifestation of colour, symbol of gravity, dignity, clemency and glory. According to the German scholar, primitive peoples showed a preference for red-yellow due to its energy and, later in history, each people chose a colour or a colour range that they felt represented by and that expressed in a more or less conscious way the lifestyle and general state of mind of the population.
The French, for example, adopted very bright colours, the English and Germans not too exciting colours in the blue range, Italians and Spanish dark red to express dignity and power.
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Red is the first colour of which we have historical evidence, the first to be used in painting and dyeing and to which men have attributed a meaning. For this reason, it can be said that since the beginning it has had a primacy over other colours. It also has the greatest number of words in almost all written languages, starting from Hebrew, Greek and Latin.
The first colour to which a name was given, after the concepts of light and dark (and therefore the colours black and white), it was red in most cultures.
The linguistic sphere often offers us an interesting glimpse into the way of thinking of men who lived in periods before ours and at the same time reveals something deeper and often unconscious. In many languages, based on the context, for example, the same term was used to express different concepts, as in the case of coloratus in Latin, or colorado in modern Castilian, which mean red or coloured at the same time. Another example is that of the Russian language, in which the terms krasnyj (red) and krasnyj (beautiful) belong to the same lexical family. In this regard, it is enough to think of the Red Square in Moscow, which was called this way already in the time of the tsars, before the communist period, not because the brick buildings surrounding it were that color, but rather because it was considered the most beautiful in the city.
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Detail of the paintings in the Cueva de las manos (Cave of the Hands) in Santa Cruz (Argentina), dating back between 7,300 BC and 700 AD
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The red flames in the first theory were associated with Hell and constituted the body of the dragon of the Apocalypse. This colour was therefore considered destructive and evil, it blazed without illuminating and was darker than darkness. It was, in essence, the colour of the Devil and his demons who in miniatures were always painted in this way (later also traitors such as Judas, Cain, Renart will be described with red hair, beard or fur). The second theory was decidedly positive, because it associated the flames with divine manifestation: in the Old Testament, Yahweh appears through fire, for example in the episode of the bush with which he communicates with Moses, and in the New Testament it represents the Holy Spirit who gives life. It is therefore a bright and luminous red that was supposed to purify and regenerate the soul.
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The shades of colours were very important in the
Middle Ages, more than they are for us today, because they had precise and
often different meanings even between very similar shades. This is the case of
red tending towards orange, for example. This colour was greatly devalued
starting from the 12th century and became the representative of a great variety
of vices, of which Judas is the main example. In the New Testament, he is not
described physically or in terms of clothing, nevertheless after the year 1000
he is almost always seen represented with a red-orange beard and hair. He,
therefore, combines in himself the negative aspects of two colours: red and
yellow. [...] Yellow has always been the colour associated with lies and felony
and has never been redeemed over the centuries, even if in Rome it was sought
after in clothing. Even in the artistic and literary fields, key rules were
respected in the representation of certain characters: attributes, movements,
objects and colours, that allowed and still help us to recognise the subject of
a painting or story. The idea that red hair was the distinctive sign of
traitors par excellence has spread to many aspects of everyday life and it is
no coincidence that in the Middle Ages many traitors and deceivers are
described with this physical trait. Some famous examples are: Cain, Mordred
(the incestuous son of King Arthur), Renart (the cunning fox), Fauvel (the
vicious horse) and in general all rebellious sons, perjured fathers, usurping uncles
and adulterous women. In the Bible, neither Cain nor Judas were described with
red hair, despite this, however, other negative characters in history possess
this trait. This is the case of Esau, Jacob's twin, who is willing to sell his
birthright to his brother for food, and although he later regrets this, his
father will send him into exile with the accusation of being an extremely rude
and impetuous person.
In Rome this distrust was no less. The name rufus,
in fact, was used sarcastically and as a form of insult because a person with
hair of this colour was not only considered aesthetically ugly, but above all,
on an internal level, he was defined as hypocritical and cruel, a tradition
that in Europe would continue until modern times.
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Detail of Judas from Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper
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This reference to red-orange hair is very
interesting. In this post we have seen that a distinction was made between red-orange hair and dark red
hair. The former was considered ugly and carrot-y, while the latter was very
appreciated. However, we coulnd’t find a reason for that. According to this
thesis, the reason could be that red-orange colour combines the negative aspects
of red and yellow.
In this paragraph the author also writes something
strange, namely that in the Bible Saul and Caiaphas are described as having red
hair. This is not true and I’m surprised that she didn’t check the Bible to
verify the claim.
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«Et quant messire Gauvains l'ot,
si se trestorne et voit venant
.i. escuier desavenant.
Et quex fu il, dirai le vos:
les chevox ot merlez et ros,
roides et contremont dreciez,
come pors qui est hericiez,
et les sorcix ot autretés,
que tot le vis et tot le nes
li covroient jusqu'as grenons,
que il avoit tortiz et lons
Boche ot
fandue et barbe lee,
tondue et puis recercelee,
et cort le col et le piz haut.» (vv. 6740-6753)
“Hearing this, my lord
Gawain turned round and saw
A squire approaching. Who
Was he? I'm going to tell you.
His hair was red, thick,
Stiff, and standing straight up
Like a wild boar in anger,
As were his eyebrows, which seemed
To grow all the way down
His face, and over his nose,
Covering everything as far
As his huge and twisted mustache.
His mouth was narrow, his heavy
Beard was forked and curly.
His neck was short, his chest
Immense.”
(The English translation comes from here).
Before reaching the castle with five hundred windows, Gawain, as a perfect courteous man, finds himself helping a seriously wounded knight, lying under an oak tree, and assisted by a girl desperate for his condition. Thanks to some herbal compresses, the wounded man regains consciousness and expresses the desire to reach a priest to confess, fearing he would die without first having surrendered to God. To move around, he asks Gawain for a nag, which was being ridden at that moment by a squire who was approaching them. And it is this squire to whom the words above are addressed, which describe him in an unflattering way. The first physical data that is provided to us is precisely that relating to the hair and its colour: red. Already from this single aspect we can understand that the character will not be positive for the hero of the story, in fact, as previously stated, the red colour of the hair in the Middle Ages was perceived as a guarantee of the immorality of the person. […]
In this case, the squire will not have the role of traitor or liar, rather he embodies a perfect outcast of society, who does not know the fundamental rules of courtesy in the dialogue between men of honour. In fact, we note a great contrast between the words that Gawain addresses to him, very respectful and formal, and instead the ill-mannered and rude response of the man, who wishes him a cruel fate.
However, the colour is not enough to connote the character, who is compared to the porcupine for the ruffled, sparse and shaggy hair that, together with the long and curly beard, contribute to create a very funny and ridiculous figure.
He is a character substantially devoid of dignity, who falls from his mount because of a glove that Gawain has thrown at him as a challenge, who threatens the knight with vain, empty words, destined to remain without any follow-up.
The clash between the two does not occur, there is no fight and the character disappears when attention is focused on the wounded man and his behaviour when he recognises Gawain. This makes us understand the baseness of this character, against whom it is useless even to clash, whose presence is easily forgotten.
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In medieval texts there are three main types of knights: the White Knight, the Black Knight and the Red Knight: based on the colour of the armor and the crests, these characters are instinctively associated with certain qualities. The White Knight usually acts as the hero's master, therefore embodies an extremely wise character, often elderly or in any case with a great experience of chivalric life behind him. The Black Knight, on the other hand, is almost always a prominent character, who hides his identity, usually a very brave fighter during tournaments, animated by good intentions.
Finally, the Red Knight tends to be hostile to the hero, is a traitor and evil and is often assumed as an emissary of the Devil or as a being from another world.
In Perceval, heraldry is very simplified and the knight whose color is specified is only one: the Red Knight. Initially an enemy faced by Perceval, later he himself will be called with this name, after having made his own the weapons of the one he defeated.
I won’t quote the other passages about the Red
Knight, but if you’re interested in Arthurian legends I invite you to translate
the whole thesis with an automatic translator, because it’s a very good work
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