Ad imaginem suam: regional chant variants and the origins of the Jeu d'Adam

Comparative Drama, Fall-Wntr, 2002 by Charles T. Downey

One manuscript in particular matches best all of the criteria laid out above as necessary to the liturgical background of the author, as we observe it in the play he created. Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France, lat. 1085 is a compendium of liturgical information, with sections written from the tenth century through the twelfth century, which belonged formerly to the magnificent library of the monastery of Saint-Martial in Limoges. The antiphoner portion of the book, copied in the eleventh century, appears to be a record of this powerful monastery's unusual liturgy prior to the reform instituted by Cluny in 1062 at the request of the town's ruler. (46)

For Septuagesima Sunday, starting on folio [40.sup.v], lat. 1085 records what the table of contents calls an Officium sepelitionis Alleluia. This is followed by the series of Adam and Cain responsories for Sexagesima Sunday in which each responsory has at least two separate verses, some of which I have found in no other source (a portion of this series of chants has been reproduced in figure 2). (47) The attempt by the Cluniacs to bring the Saint-Martial liturgy in line with their own is reflected in the liturgical books after the reform; in these the Adam responsories are presented on both Septuagesima and Sexagesima, with the standard French verse texts. (48)

[FIGURE 2 OMITTED]

Not only are all seven of the play's responsories present in lat. 1085, but the ordering of the responsories in this source follows the typical monastic arrangement that has been described above and in which form the author of the Jeu d'Adam has them performed. (49) Furthermore, the verses recorded include all those matching best the relevant sections of the play. (50) Most importantly, the responsory Formavit igitur dominus is given an unusual verse that matches the French text even better than the CAO verse C, found predominantly in southeastern France (lat. 1085, fol. [42.sup.r]; the full text is reproduced in table 1 as verse E). The verb plasmauit is translated as "fourme" (which creauit in verse C did not seem to match), and ad imaginem et similitudinem suam becomes "a mun semblant/A ma imagene" (as opposed to ad imaginem suam ad imaginem dei in verse C).

A final piece of information comes from an unusual verse for the first responsory in the series, In principio deus creauit, which reads: "In filio creauit uniuersa atque per spiritum uiuificauit omnia animata." (51) This refers to the theological teaching that the creation of the universe was accomplished not by God the Father but by the preincarnate Son, Jesus Christ. It is precisely in this way that the character of Figura is introduced in the opening rubric of the Jeu d'Adam: "Tunc ueniat Saluator indutus dalmatica ... et stent [Adam et Eua] coram Figura." (52) In the play, Figura is represented as the person of Jesus, creating the heavens and Adam himself. This understanding of the eternal nature of Jesus derives from the Gospel of John, especially the first three verses of its first chapter. (53) This idea is also portrayed in an illuminated initial in a later Saint-Martial liturgical manuscript, in which Jesus, instantly recognizable by his cross nimbus, is shown forming Adam with his hands. (54) Furthermore, the clerical costume Jesus wears in this illumination (fig. 3) is strikingly similar to that ascribed to Figura in the Jeu d'Adam: a dalmatic and also, at some points in the play, a stole. (55)