8 - Ordering the World: Games in the Architectural Iconography of Stirling Castle, Scotland
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 November 2020
Summary
Abstract
This essay explores the iconography of the facades of King James V's palace at Stirling Castle in Scotland in relation to the imagery of educational games and contemporary games literature. The south facade is discussed in light of the architectural and iconographic evidence of courtly engagement with active pastimes such as ball games and hunting, as both educational and entertaining activities. In turn, the analysis argues that the culture of Trionfi in its interrelated expressions of card decks, Petrarchan literature, and urban triumphal celebrations may have been permanently displayed in the north, east, and south facades through the medium of stone decoration. By engaging with moralizing pastimes and allegorical games in courtly settings, I suggest that the Scottish king was demonstrating a remarkable willingness to engage with, and symbolically claim back control upon, the complex and powerful forces governing the early modern world.
Keywords: James V of Scotland, Stirling Castle, tarot cards, tarocchi, Cusanus, triumphal entries
In the late medieval period, Scotland was a geographically isolated and comparatively poor country, plagued by internal unrest and by frequent squabbles with England. From the late fifteenth century, forward-thinking if short-lived Stewart monarchs James IV (1473–1513) and James V (1512–1542) established Scotland as a culturally well-connected player on the European political scene, particularly through the construction, extension, and refurbishment of their residences. Game culture profoundly shaped these new Scottish royal residences, from the setting up of spaces for outdoor pursuits like jousting and hunting, to the construction of dedicated buildings like tennis courts and bowling alleys, to the upgrading of their private apartments with game-related pieces of furniture such as billiard tables and card tables. At Stirling Castle in particular, the facades of James V's lodgings embody this new relaxed culture based on courtly games and entertainments and well represent the role of games in the transformation of an old-fashioned, martial Stewart castle into a refined and carefree residence for a more modern, pleasure-loving Renaissance court. This investigation aims at providing imaginative interpretative answers for the king's unusual choice of sculptural embellishments, which I posit find a common source in game texts and the iconography of game imagery.
Outdoor and Indoor Games at the Scottish Court
The Stewart monarchs were keen on both outdoor and indoor games, to be enjoyed at Stirling Castle and in their many other royal dwellings.
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- Publisher: Amsterdam University PressPrint publication year: 2019