Friday, May 20, 2005

What the Royal Effigy meant.

The idea behind the royal effigy was summed up in the latin phrase "Dignitas non moritur", which means "(royal) dignity never dies". There were considered to be two Kings; the body and the role. So, the King would die, but the spiritual king would live irregardless. Until kingship passed onto the next role-holder. The effigy was the "incarnate representation of the virtual monarch". (Le Roy Ladurie) Eventually, the practice died out in France as the transmission of kingship came to be tied more to blood than a virtual kingship. This is why effigies are burned; burning the effigy means literally destroying the role of King, while letting the man live.
When I spoke of the Nobility of the Image, what I meant was those image-creators who have filled the void left by the removal of virtual kingship. The leader now fills a physical role, but the ideational role is filled by media images. The King is dead; long live the image.

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