“A Secret Particularly Obscure”
-
J. H. Chajes
Abstract
The biblical TabernacleTabernacle and TempleJerusalemSolomon’s Temple were elaborate structures designed to activate the ‘Holy of Holies’ portal to the divine realm. Biblical cosmology determined their layout and components, from cherubic curtains to the Ark of the CovenantArk of the Covenant. Although full-fledged astral-magical talismanic explanations of these elements would be offered only by medieval authors, the contextual sense of Scripture already points to a presumption of the ‘sympathetic’ basis of their operation: by virtue of their similarity to the divine realm, they were ideally suited to housing the Divine on earth. It was thus only natural that later esoteric readings of scripture would project diverse cosmological teachings upon this material. From the late 13th century, we therefore find exponents of the KabbalahKabbalah - the then emergent esotericism distinguished by a view of the Divine as a constellation of ten hypostatic emanations or sefirot - reading the pericope Terumah (Exodus 25-27:20) as a mirror of the sefirotic Godhead. By the 14th century, kabbalists in Spain and Italy began drafting map-like diagrams of the sefirotic array on parchment sheets; these they called ilanotIlan (Ilanot) (lit. ‘trees’). At their centre, we find densely inscribed arboreal figures. These diagrams are often flanked by drawings of the Menorah and the Shewbread Table. The following chapter will interrogate their meaning and function based on heretofore unstudied texts of the parchments and in the light of kabbalistic biblical exegesis of the period.
Abstract
The biblical TabernacleTabernacle and TempleJerusalemSolomon’s Temple were elaborate structures designed to activate the ‘Holy of Holies’ portal to the divine realm. Biblical cosmology determined their layout and components, from cherubic curtains to the Ark of the CovenantArk of the Covenant. Although full-fledged astral-magical talismanic explanations of these elements would be offered only by medieval authors, the contextual sense of Scripture already points to a presumption of the ‘sympathetic’ basis of their operation: by virtue of their similarity to the divine realm, they were ideally suited to housing the Divine on earth. It was thus only natural that later esoteric readings of scripture would project diverse cosmological teachings upon this material. From the late 13th century, we therefore find exponents of the KabbalahKabbalah - the then emergent esotericism distinguished by a view of the Divine as a constellation of ten hypostatic emanations or sefirot - reading the pericope Terumah (Exodus 25-27:20) as a mirror of the sefirotic Godhead. By the 14th century, kabbalists in Spain and Italy began drafting map-like diagrams of the sefirotic array on parchment sheets; these they called ilanotIlan (Ilanot) (lit. ‘trees’). At their centre, we find densely inscribed arboreal figures. These diagrams are often flanked by drawings of the Menorah and the Shewbread Table. The following chapter will interrogate their meaning and function based on heretofore unstudied texts of the parchments and in the light of kabbalistic biblical exegesis of the period.
Chapters in this book
- 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
Chapters in this book
- 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
