Iconography of Love: Illustrations of Bride and Bridegroom in Ashkenazi Prayerbooks of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Century

• Autores: Sarit Shalev-Eyni
• Localización: Studies in iconography, ISSN 0148-1029, Nº. 26, 2005, págs. 27-57
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Two complementary themes derived from textual sources and contemporary medieval trends are combined in illustrations of loving couples that accompany the piyyut “come with me from Lebanon” in 13th- and 14th-century illuminated Ashkenazi prayerbooks. The theological theme is communicated in the image of the couple as variations on Christian models of Christ and Mary-Ecclesia-the bride, on the one hand, and the blindfolded Synagoga, on the other. These images are a visual reflection of a medieval debate about the identity of the two lovers in the Hebrew book the Song of Songs, on which the piyyut is based. The situation's lyrical aspect resulted in the appropriation of secular models of love songs and chivalry.This lyricism is also implicit in an odd illustration to the same piyyut in the Tripartite Mahzor, in which the couple is replaced by two knights in combat. The eschatological combat of the piyyut is replaced by a real combat that acts as a historical document referring to both contemporary events and the relationship between Jews and Ludwig, Duke of Upper Bavaria, the new emperor.