Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index

Wreaths of roses were an element of medieval courtship, with the woman often giving one to her lover. Here in the text entitled Exemplar, Suso takes on the role of both male and female beloved, as he wears a wreath but also offers one. Below a number of men and women in clerical or lay dress look at numerous abbreviations of "Ihesus" floating in the air around them and reach out for them. One man below has already taken the name to heart, literally, as it appears on his chest in black as Suso's does. This image brings to mind the following passage from Suso's Life of the Servant: "She [Wisdom] was suspended high above him on a throne of clouds. She was lit up like the morning star and shone as the glittering sun. Her crown was eternity, her clothing blessedness, her words sweetness, and her embrace the satisfaction of all desire. She was distant and near, high and low, she was present and yet hidden."

In the accompanying illustration, also from the Exemplar Suso is tormented by demons in a scene with multiple references to Christ's crucifixion. A small group of Dominican nuns offers aid in the form of a wet sponge. On the other side, the dog with a raised paw is likely a representation of the Dominican order (known as Domini canis to fight the wolves of heresy). Suso was a Dominican preacher and mystic who wrote multiple texts which were compiled together as the Exemplar. He provided spiritual advice to Dominican nuns, and evidence exists of his correspondence with Elsbeth Stagel from the monastery of Töss near Zürich. It is unclear what kind of influence she had on his writings, but he notes in his vita that she took down his experiences without his knowledge. As he was burning her papers, a divine message prompted him to use them instead for an account of his life.