Vasari and Giambullari on the Menorah, the Tabernacle, and Bezalel
-
Gerd Blum
Abstract
A section in Giorgio VasariVasari, Giorgio’s Lives of the Artists on the Menorah (attributed to his co-author Pierfrancesco GiambullariGiambullari, Pierfranceso) discusses the TabernacleTabernacle / Temple candelabrum as an example of the divinely legitimised production of artefacts among the arti del disegno and their use. At the core of this discourse is a somewhat antagonistic juxtaposition of MosesMoses prohibiting the making of images and their use, with divinely inspired craftmanship attributed to BezalelBezalel and OholiabOholiab, the artists of the Tabernacle.
This chapter sheds light on the entangled Jewish-Christian reception history of the Hebrew Tabernacle narrative in the Book of Exodus (24-40). Starting with some observations on the Vulgate, it is first concerned with Jewish and Christian exegesis from the Middle Ages. It is clear that Vasari and his co-authors had access to a wide range of Jewish and Christian texts on the Tabernacle narrative, which they used towards a discourse on the legitimation for the production and use of artefacts. More striking, however, is the antagonistic juxtaposition of MosesMoses and Bezalel in the Vite, alluded to in Jewish treatments of the Tabernacle, in particular in the Zohar. Kabbalistic interests of Christian Hebraists in early modern Italy within VasariVasari, Giorgio’s and Giambullari’s vicinity can shed further light on these connections. Finally, further echoes of these discourses can be traced in the visual cultures of the time.
Abstract
A section in Giorgio VasariVasari, Giorgio’s Lives of the Artists on the Menorah (attributed to his co-author Pierfrancesco GiambullariGiambullari, Pierfranceso) discusses the TabernacleTabernacle / Temple candelabrum as an example of the divinely legitimised production of artefacts among the arti del disegno and their use. At the core of this discourse is a somewhat antagonistic juxtaposition of MosesMoses prohibiting the making of images and their use, with divinely inspired craftmanship attributed to BezalelBezalel and OholiabOholiab, the artists of the Tabernacle.
This chapter sheds light on the entangled Jewish-Christian reception history of the Hebrew Tabernacle narrative in the Book of Exodus (24-40). Starting with some observations on the Vulgate, it is first concerned with Jewish and Christian exegesis from the Middle Ages. It is clear that Vasari and his co-authors had access to a wide range of Jewish and Christian texts on the Tabernacle narrative, which they used towards a discourse on the legitimation for the production and use of artefacts. More striking, however, is the antagonistic juxtaposition of MosesMoses and Bezalel in the Vite, alluded to in Jewish treatments of the Tabernacle, in particular in the Zohar. Kabbalistic interests of Christian Hebraists in early modern Italy within VasariVasari, Giorgio’s and Giambullari’s vicinity can shed further light on these connections. Finally, further echoes of these discourses can be traced in the visual cultures of the time.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- List of Contents V
- Introduction 1
-
I. Tabernacle and Temple
- Das Schicksal des siebenarmigen Leuchters aus dem Jerusalemer Tempel im mittelalterlichen Rom 3
- Priest, Temple, Jewishness, Redemption? 37
- Articulating the geometricalia of Scripture 79
- Vasari and Giambullari on the Menorah, the Tabernacle, and Bezalel 97
- Die Menora in Raffaels Vertreibung des Heliodor und Garofalos Vertreibung der Wechsler aus dem Tempel 143
-
II. Image and Exegesis
- tres gradus fidelium in ecclesia 169
- Jewish and Christian Re-Imagining of the Seven-branched Lampstand in the Postilla litteralis of Nicholas of Lyra (d. 1349) 217
- Der siebenarmige Leuchter im Speculum humanae salvationis 243
- The Sanctuary’s Implements 271
- “A Secret Particularly Obscure” 307
-
III. Patronage and Memoria
- Aniane and Fulda 341
- Seven-branched Candelabra in Medieval England 365
- Marienwohlde oder Mölln? 415
- Siebenarmige Leuchter im 16. Jahrhundert 443
-
IV. Context and (Re-)Use
- Der siebenarmige Leuchter im Heiligtum von Mentorella (Vulturella) in Latium 475
- „Madonna del Albero, dandole tal cognome quella gran pianta“ 503
- Der siebenarmige Leuchter in der Marienkirche in Frankfurt an der Oder 543
- „den store liusestaken af bronz med dess Siu lampor“ 577
- Survivals and Revivals of the Menorah in Medieval and Early Modern European Synagogues 613
- Figures and Charts 653
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- List of Contents V
- Introduction 1
-
I. Tabernacle and Temple
- Das Schicksal des siebenarmigen Leuchters aus dem Jerusalemer Tempel im mittelalterlichen Rom 3
- Priest, Temple, Jewishness, Redemption? 37
- Articulating the geometricalia of Scripture 79
- Vasari and Giambullari on the Menorah, the Tabernacle, and Bezalel 97
- Die Menora in Raffaels Vertreibung des Heliodor und Garofalos Vertreibung der Wechsler aus dem Tempel 143
-
II. Image and Exegesis
- tres gradus fidelium in ecclesia 169
- Jewish and Christian Re-Imagining of the Seven-branched Lampstand in the Postilla litteralis of Nicholas of Lyra (d. 1349) 217
- Der siebenarmige Leuchter im Speculum humanae salvationis 243
- The Sanctuary’s Implements 271
- “A Secret Particularly Obscure” 307
-
III. Patronage and Memoria
- Aniane and Fulda 341
- Seven-branched Candelabra in Medieval England 365
- Marienwohlde oder Mölln? 415
- Siebenarmige Leuchter im 16. Jahrhundert 443
-
IV. Context and (Re-)Use
- Der siebenarmige Leuchter im Heiligtum von Mentorella (Vulturella) in Latium 475
- „Madonna del Albero, dandole tal cognome quella gran pianta“ 503
- Der siebenarmige Leuchter in der Marienkirche in Frankfurt an der Oder 543
- „den store liusestaken af bronz med dess Siu lampor“ 577
- Survivals and Revivals of the Menorah in Medieval and Early Modern European Synagogues 613
- Figures and Charts 653
