Ajax et Jean le Baptiste : pour une lecture franciscaine de l’Ovide moralisé ?

In books XII and XIII of the Ovide moralisé, Ajax and Saint John the Baptist are matched in moralisation. The aim of this ­contribution is to recontextualise this passage in terms of the visual and spiritual ­culture of the early fourteenth century, underlining the mixture of canonicity and audacity which gives this work its particular tone. By way of the striking theme of the ­competition between John the Baptist and Christ, it is suggested that the author might have found his source in the ­Franciscans’ quarrel over usus pauper.