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tres gradus fidelium in ecclesia

The Seven-branched Candelabrum as an Allegory of Social Order in Peter of Poitiers’ Compendium historiae
  • Eleanor Goerss and Andrea Worm
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The Menorah and the Seven-branched Candelabrum
This chapter is in the book The Menorah and the Seven-branched Candelabrum

Abstract

Starting in the late 12th century, pictorial representations of the seven-branched candelabrum occur frequently in manuscripts. Found almost exclusively together with Peter of PoitiersPeter of Poitiers’ Compendium historiae in genealogiae Christi, a diagrammatic rendering of salvation history, the Menorah appears as a full-page, iconic image. A short explanatory text interprets the candelabrum’s three levels of branches as three degrees of merit exemplified by three biblical figures. In this allegory, NoahNoah stands for the preachers, DanielDaniel for the continent, and JobJob for the righteous married (based on Ezekiel 14:12-23). The allegorised candelabrum, in presenting the tres gradus fidelium in ecclesia fuerunt (“three grades of the faithful that existed within Church”), provides a visual model of Christian society. Examining the phenomenon of the candelabrum in its context together with the Compendium historiae, this chapter addresses the history of an image, its aesthetics between the diagrammatic and the pictorial, and its implications for the visualisation of history.

Abstract

Starting in the late 12th century, pictorial representations of the seven-branched candelabrum occur frequently in manuscripts. Found almost exclusively together with Peter of PoitiersPeter of Poitiers’ Compendium historiae in genealogiae Christi, a diagrammatic rendering of salvation history, the Menorah appears as a full-page, iconic image. A short explanatory text interprets the candelabrum’s three levels of branches as three degrees of merit exemplified by three biblical figures. In this allegory, NoahNoah stands for the preachers, DanielDaniel for the continent, and JobJob for the righteous married (based on Ezekiel 14:12-23). The allegorised candelabrum, in presenting the tres gradus fidelium in ecclesia fuerunt (“three grades of the faithful that existed within Church”), provides a visual model of Christian society. Examining the phenomenon of the candelabrum in its context together with the Compendium historiae, this chapter addresses the history of an image, its aesthetics between the diagrammatic and the pictorial, and its implications for the visualisation of history.

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. List of Contents V
  3. Introduction 1
  4. I. Tabernacle and Temple
  5. Das Schicksal des siebenarmigen Leuchters aus dem Jerusalemer Tempel im mittelalterlichen Rom 3
  6. Priest, Temple, Jewishness, Redemption? 37
  7. Articulating the geometricalia of Scripture 79
  8. Vasari and Giambullari on the Menorah, the Tabernacle, and Bezalel 97
  9. Die Menora in Raffaels Vertreibung des Heliodor und Garofalos Vertreibung der Wechsler aus dem Tempel 143
  10. II. Image and Exegesis
  11. tres gradus fidelium in ecclesia 169
  12. Jewish and Christian Re-Imagining of the Seven-branched Lampstand in the Postilla litteralis of Nicholas of Lyra (d. 1349) 217
  13. Der siebenarmige Leuchter im Speculum humanae salvationis 243
  14. The Sanctuary’s Implements 271
  15. “A Secret Particularly Obscure” 307
  16. III. Patronage and Memoria
  17. Aniane and Fulda 341
  18. Seven-branched Candelabra in Medieval England 365
  19. Marienwohlde oder Mölln? 415
  20. Siebenarmige Leuchter im 16. Jahrhundert 443
  21. IV. Context and (Re-)Use
  22. Der siebenarmige Leuchter im Heiligtum von Mentorella (Vulturella) in Latium 475
  23. „Madonna del Albero, dandole tal cognome quella gran pianta“ 503
  24. Der siebenarmige Leuchter in der Marienkirche in Frankfurt an der Oder 543
  25. „den store liusestaken af bronz med dess Siu lampor“ 577
  26. Survivals and Revivals of the Menorah in Medieval and Early Modern European Synagogues 613
  27. Figures and Charts 653
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111165219-007

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. List of Contents V
  3. Introduction 1
  4. I. Tabernacle and Temple
  5. Das Schicksal des siebenarmigen Leuchters aus dem Jerusalemer Tempel im mittelalterlichen Rom 3
  6. Priest, Temple, Jewishness, Redemption? 37
  7. Articulating the geometricalia of Scripture 79
  8. Vasari and Giambullari on the Menorah, the Tabernacle, and Bezalel 97
  9. Die Menora in Raffaels Vertreibung des Heliodor und Garofalos Vertreibung der Wechsler aus dem Tempel 143
  10. II. Image and Exegesis
  11. tres gradus fidelium in ecclesia 169
  12. Jewish and Christian Re-Imagining of the Seven-branched Lampstand in the Postilla litteralis of Nicholas of Lyra (d. 1349) 217
  13. Der siebenarmige Leuchter im Speculum humanae salvationis 243
  14. The Sanctuary’s Implements 271
  15. “A Secret Particularly Obscure” 307
  16. III. Patronage and Memoria
  17. Aniane and Fulda 341
  18. Seven-branched Candelabra in Medieval England 365
  19. Marienwohlde oder Mölln? 415
  20. Siebenarmige Leuchter im 16. Jahrhundert 443
  21. IV. Context and (Re-)Use
  22. Der siebenarmige Leuchter im Heiligtum von Mentorella (Vulturella) in Latium 475
  23. „Madonna del Albero, dandole tal cognome quella gran pianta“ 503
  24. Der siebenarmige Leuchter in der Marienkirche in Frankfurt an der Oder 543
  25. „den store liusestaken af bronz med dess Siu lampor“ 577
  26. Survivals and Revivals of the Menorah in Medieval and Early Modern European Synagogues 613
  27. Figures and Charts 653
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