Pulchrum esse: The Beauty of Scripture, the Beauty of the Soul, and the Art of Exegesis in Hugh of St. Victor

PULCHRUM ESSE: THE BEAUTY OF SCRIPTURE, THE BEAUTY OF THE SOUL, AND THE ART OF EXEGESIS IN HUGH OF ST. VICTOR By BOYD TAYLOR COOLMAN Pondering the narrative of creation given in Genesis in his De sacramentis Christianae fidei,} Hugh of St. Victor (d. 1142)2 raises the question of whether creation was instantaneous or required a literal six days. Hugh opts for the latter. Though instantaneous creation was of course possible, he argues that God created in six days, proceeding gradually through increasing degrees of form and beauty, so that the rational creature "might discern how great was the difference between esse and pulchrum esse," between "being" and "beautiful being." God's intention, Hugh declares, was that rational creatures would be "warned not to be content with having received being [esse] from the Creator," but would strive for "beautiful being" (pulchrum esse).3 The primary task of the human being in Eden, therefore, was twofold: first, a discernment , an exegesis that rightly interpreted the pulchrum esse of creation to be a manifestation of divine Beauty; second, a realization of pulchrum esse within itself. In large measure, for Hugh, the ensuing Fall entailed a failure to fulfill this original exegetical and ethical calling. This perspective on creation and the Fall reflects an aesthetic dimension in the Victorine's thought.4 Hugh's theology of beauty is the subject of a 1 PL 176:173A-618B. Hugh of Saint Victor: On the Sacraments of the Christian Faith (De sacramentis), trans. R. J. Deferrari, Medieval Academy of America, 58 (Cambridge, Mass., 1951). Cited hereafter as De sacramentis. This is an expanded and revised version of a paper read in 2001 at the International Congress on Medieval Studies, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Mich. I am indebted to Elizabeth A. R. Brown and Michael Roberts for their insightful editorial suggestions and invaluable improvements on my Latin translations. 2 The abbey of Saint Victor was founded in Paris by William of Champeaux in 1108 and housed an Augustinian order of regular canons. For the most recent study of the early history of the abbey see Robert-Henri Bautier, "Les origines et les premiers développements de l'abbaye Saint-Victor de Paris," in L'abbaye parisienne de Saint-Victor au Moyen Age, ed. Jean Longère, Bibliotheca Victorina, 1 (Turnhout, 1991), 23-52. 3 De sacramentis 1.1.3 (PL 176:189A; Deferrari, 9): "Idcirco foris prius ei demonstrata est informis materia, postea formata, ut quanta foret inter esse et pulchrum esse distantia discerneret . Ac per hoc admonita est ne contenta esset eo quod per conditionem a Creatore esse acceperat, donec et pulchrum esse atque beatum esse adipisceretur. . . ." 4 For Hugh's theology, see Roger Baron, Science et sagesse chez Hugues de Saint-Victor (Paris, 1957) and the numerous articles by Grover A. Zinn, Jr., including "Book and Word: The Victorine Background of Bonaventure's Use of Symbols," in S. Bonaventura 1274-1974, ed. Francesco P. Papini and Jacques C. Bougerol, 5 vols. (Rome, 1973), 176traditio recent monograph,5 but the role of beauty in his theology demands further consideration, especially in relation to his view of Scripture and scriptural exegesis.6 Four issues deserve exploration. First, while the Fall radically altered the human capacity to do so, the task of discerning and being converted to divine Beauty remained. What changed were the conditions that make this possible, and crucial among these is the status and function of Scripture. Put simply, for Hugh, after the Fall, Scripture has become the lens in and through which human beings can perceive divine Beauty. Second , this assumption shapes Hugh's view of Scripture's very composition: like creation, it is artfully wrought and thus manifests divine Beauty. Third, Hugh's exegetical theory reflects Scripture's post-lapsarian function and composition. Criteria such as fittingness, consonance, harmony, and unity emerge as central interpretive principles. Finally, scriptural exegesis facilitates human conversion to pulchrum esse. In Hugh's thought, accordingly, exegesis is closely related to ethics, and he conceives of ethics, at least in part, as the realization of beauty of the soul. Post-Lapsarian Exegesis of Beauty in and through Scripture Perceiving uncreated Beauty (pulchritudo invisibilis) within created things (pulchritude...