Margins in Motion. Narrativity and Dynamic Viewing in 14th Century Ghent Marginalia

This paper examines the marginal imagery in a group of fourteenth-century manuscripts produced in or near Ghent, arguing that their margins cultivate narrativity as part of a broader system of reader engagement. Often treated as decorative or marginal to the meaning of the book, these images instead reveal a consistent logic that invites active participation from the reader. The study shows how marginal imagery deploys a range of devices that prompt such engagement: dispersed narrative sequences unfolding across bifolia and quires, delayed revelation, and other visual cues and references to widely circulating stories and proverbs. These elements encourage readers to establish connections, reconstruct sequences, and mentally narrate the images they encounter.