Origins and definition of the lullian metaphor of the «lover» and the «beloved»

Abstract

The metaphor of the loved and the beloved appears for the first time in the last chapters of the Book of Contemplation (1273-1276), the first principal book project of Ramon Llull. The- se references prefigure the literary and the artistic characteristics of this theme, which will be present in all Llull’s opus, especially in the Book of the lover and the beloved (1276-1283), the Ars amativa (1290), and the Tree of the Philosophy of Love (1298). This paper explains the definition of the metaphor, and it also suggests an interpretation of these first references, including some texts from other lullian works before Blaquerna. All together constitute the first stage in the evolution of this lullian image during thirty years.