Klöster im Hochmittelalter

92 | Timothy J. Johnson
also means comparatio. ³² When describing roadways, for example, he notes that
physical roads are obviously similar to spiritual roads, and physical places signify
where spiritual roads terminate. ³³ Nowhere is this analogical language more visible
than when he examines the physical properties of the human eye via the science of
perspective or optics. ³⁴ Everything said about the corporeal eye has spiritual significance
by way of similitude. What Bacon intends by similitude is not the proportional
understanding of the term Bonaventure employs in the Itinerarium and elsewhere,
but rather, comparative, since spiritual truths are revealed when the physical
qualities and activities of the eye are examined. ³⁵ Psalm 16, 8 cries out, “Lord, guard
us as the pupil of your eye.” This prayer is unintelligible without a firm grasp of
how the eye might be protected on the literal-physical level. According to the science
of optics, there are seven physical entities safeguarding the pupil, or even eight
if eye lashes are included. These can be compared, for example, to the seven virtues,
the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit and the eight beatitudes of Matthew’s Gospel.
Bacon’s innovative interest in optics far exceeds analogical comparison of the
literal and spiritual levels of meaning; it is centered on the overriding significance
of vision and physical representation in the quest for transcendence. In addition
to a study of languages, the literal understanding of the Scripture requires that the
sacred text be pictured with precision through the expert utilization of geometric
perspective. ³⁶ In the Opus majus, Bacon pleads for accurate depictions of the sacred
mysteries found in the biblical text so that:
“[...] with Ezekiel in the spirit of exultation, we could behold in the senses
what he only perceived spiritually, so that with Ezra and Nehemiah after
the restoration of the new Jerusalem we might enter in a greater house decorated
with fuller glory. Certainly this sensible vision would be beautiful,
but more beautiful when we would see the figure of our truth face to face,
and most beautiful to be sure when, contemplating the spiritual and literal
32 Roger Bacon, Compendium of the Study of Theology, ed. Thomas S. Maloney (Studien und Texte zur
Geistesgeschichte des Mittelalters 20), Leiden 1988, p. 118. This perspective also plays out in linguistics and
semiotics, where equivocation is linked to Bacon’s understanding of signs, see: Stephan Meier-Oeser,
Die Spur des Zeichens. Das Zeichen und seine Funktion in der Philosophie des Mittelalters und der
frühen Neuzeit (Quellen und Studien zur Philosophie 44), Berlin 1997, pp. 64 f. Bonaventure and Bacon
part company when dealing with the meaning and interpretation of signs, see Costantino Marmo, La
semiotica del xiii secolo. Tra arti liberali e teologia (Studi Bompiani), Milano 2010, pp. 16, 82.
33 Roger Bacon, Opus majus (note 25 above), vol. 1, p. 184.
34 Roger Bacon, Opus majus (note 25 above), vol. 1, p. 159 –166. Klaus Bergdolt, Der Sehvorgang als
theologisches Analogon. Augenanatomie und Physiologie bei Roger Bacon, in: Sudhoffs Archiv 75, 1991,
pp. 1–20.
35 Roger Bacon, Opus majus (note 25 above), vol. 1, pp. 162 f.
36 Roger Bacon, Opus majus (note 25 above), vol. 1, pp. 210 f.