Un caso di riscrittura metrica ‘ultrabreve’ dei Vangeli: i distici Miracula Christi (Ps. Claud. carm. min. app. 21 = Anth. Lat. 879 R.2)
A case of extremely condensed metrical rewriting of the Gospels: the distichs Miracula Christi (Ps. Claud. carm. min. app. 21 = Anth. Lat. 879 R.2)

Summary/Abstract: This paper provides a new study of the short poem entitled Miracula Christi (Ps. Claud. carm. min. app. 21 = Anth. Lat. 879 R.2). After having provided an Italian translation of the text, I reconstruct its editorial history and the scholarly debate on its paternity. The authenticity of Claudian’s attribution is highly disputable; some unnoticed reprises from Paulinus of Nola, together with the distichs ’ orthodox theological content and stylistic peculiarities, may suggest a dating around the middle of the 5th c. The structure and intonation of the poem can reveal the author ’ s willing to celebrate Christ, highlighted by a peculiar interest for the most prodigious aspects of miracles. Similarly to other cycles of Late Antique tituli historiarum, with all probability the Miracula Christi did not describe a pre-existing iconographic cycle with baptismal theme, and have to be considered as a literary text which aims to involve the readers in the supplementation of visual elements.

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