Le sablier, la vanité et le sermon protestant français au XVIIe siècle
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Date
2018
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Abstract
Emblématique du temps qui passe, le sablier est un élément iconique majeur
des tableaux de Vanités. Il est aussi, au XVIIe siècle, l ’objet qui figure sur la chaire
du pasteur protestant qui, dans le temps imparti de l ’écoulement du sable, doit exhorter
le fidèle à faire bon usage de son temps de mortel, pour aspirer au temps éternel.
Le discours théologique et moral des prédicateurs rentre en collision avec les incises
récurrentes dans les sermons sur le peu de temps qu ’il reste encore au prédicateur
pour achever son sermon, signalant ainsi que si la vie humaine n ’est que vanité ;
le discours qui le porte doit aussi s ’en garder, en évitant toute parole creuse ou enflée,
et rester dans les limites fixées par le sablier.
As a symbol of the passage of time, the hourglass is an important iconic element of vanitas paintings. It is also, in the 17th century, the object set on the pulpit of the Protestant preacher who, within the time limits of the hourglass, must exhort the faithful to make good use of their mortal life so they can expect eternal life. The theological and moral discourse of preachers is echoed in the aside sentences that recur in the texts about the little time left to the preacher to deliver his sermon, thus meaning that if human life is vanity, the very discourse conveying the idea must avoid it, banishing all hollow or swollen words, and remain within the limits of the hourglass.
As a symbol of the passage of time, the hourglass is an important iconic element of vanitas paintings. It is also, in the 17th century, the object set on the pulpit of the Protestant preacher who, within the time limits of the hourglass, must exhort the faithful to make good use of their mortal life so they can expect eternal life. The theological and moral discourse of preachers is echoed in the aside sentences that recur in the texts about the little time left to the preacher to deliver his sermon, thus meaning that if human life is vanity, the very discourse conveying the idea must avoid it, banishing all hollow or swollen words, and remain within the limits of the hourglass.
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Keywords
temps, sermon, vanité, rhétorique, time, preaching, vanity, vanitas, rhetoric
Citation
"Quêtes littéraires" 2018, nº 8, s. 21-30