No abstract

Hunting scenes are common in Jewish illuminated manuscripts and are understood as allegories of the Jew, usually represented as a hare or a deer, being persecuted by the Christian, shown as a hunter and his dogs. This article will discuss a hunt scene from the Worms Maḥzor, an Ashkenazic illuminated prayer book produced in 1272, probably in Würzburg. At the top of folio 130r, an illumination of the piyyut (liturgical poem) “ʾAyelet ʾahavim” (the loving hind, or doe) for Shavuot displays a deer being hunted by a devilish hunter and his dogs. Examining the illustration in the context of contemporary textual evidence, I shall demonstrate that the deer in the Worms Maḥzor portrays the Torah itself being persecuted by the hunter, who can be understood not only as a Christian or Esau, but also as Jesus.

No abstract

In an Ashkenazic Bible produced in the thirteenth century, we find a unique micrography decoration portraying Ezekiel's vision. On the bottom margin the Masorah micrography shows the full bodies of the four creatures: the lion facing the ox, and the man, in full armor and holding an object in each hand, facing the eagle. I suggest that the choice to portray the human figure in this micrography as an armored knight can be explained by reference to the tradition describing seeing Jacob's image engraved on the throne in Ezekiel's vision, as also reflected in the writings of Hasidei Ashkenaz. The decoration identifies the human figure as Jacob, which may illustrate the verse 'Avir Ya‘akov, meaning “mighty one of Jacob” or Jacob the Knight.

Two manuscripts produced in early fourteenth-century German lands reflect similar iconography of the fighting with Sword and Buckler; one is the well-known fencing manual, Leeds, Royal Armouries, MS I. 33, produced ca. 1320, and the other is a Hebrew manuscript of the Bible, Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France héb. 9, made in 1304, that will be the focus of this article. This preliminary research intends to demonstrate how Hebrew illuminated manuscripts can shed more light on the study of fight books iconography.