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The Sanctuary’s Implements

Their Iconography and Tradition in Manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible (13th-15th Century)
  • Emma Abate
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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

In this chapter, the sanctuary’s implements are considered according to their graphic renderings in illuminated manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible produced in the context of refined Sephardic workshops of the 13th, 14th, and 15th centuries. A short introduction to vessels in Jewish literature and art and in Hebrew biblical manuscripts is followed by a set of case studies, which represent remarkable variations on the genre. It goes on to focus on the exquisitely coloured paintings in 14th-century Sephardic Bibles held in Modena (Biblioteca Estense, Mss. ɑ.T. 3.8 and ɑ.M. 8.4) and on the Hebrew Pentateuch decorated in micrography from 1325 Barcelona, today held at the Historical Archive of the Jewish Community of Rome (Ms. 2). Their peculiarities are compared with two Bible manuscripts in Paris (Bibliothèque nationale de France, Ms. hébr. 1314 and hébr. 31). The purpose of this chapter is to present and untangle the essential features of their iconography, function, and meanings. Furthermore, the cultural, historical, and ideological implications of their different selections of objects, organisations, and colouring will be analysed.

Abstract

In this chapter, the sanctuary’s implements are considered according to their graphic renderings in illuminated manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible produced in the context of refined Sephardic workshops of the 13th, 14th, and 15th centuries. A short introduction to vessels in Jewish literature and art and in Hebrew biblical manuscripts is followed by a set of case studies, which represent remarkable variations on the genre. It goes on to focus on the exquisitely coloured paintings in 14th-century Sephardic Bibles held in Modena (Biblioteca Estense, Mss. ɑ.T. 3.8 and ɑ.M. 8.4) and on the Hebrew Pentateuch decorated in micrography from 1325 Barcelona, today held at the Historical Archive of the Jewish Community of Rome (Ms. 2). Their peculiarities are compared with two Bible manuscripts in Paris (Bibliothèque nationale de France, Ms. hébr. 1314 and hébr. 31). The purpose of this chapter is to present and untangle the essential features of their iconography, function, and meanings. Furthermore, the cultural, historical, and ideological implications of their different selections of objects, organisations, and colouring will be analysed.

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/10.1515/9783111165219-010

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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