Explaining Oddities in Medieval Jewish Art

Sivan Millie Lederhendler, MA student, Department of History, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

This video focuses on a methodological approach to the study of Medieval Jewish art, using one peculiar example – the representation of Amalek in the Hammelburg Mahzor. The illuminator chose to depict Amalek as partially naked, an unusual and perplexing choice for a prayer book. Despite its seemingly scandalous appearance, this image was a carefully crafted companion to the liturgical text, included in the manuscript in order to help readers visualise and remember Amalek, thus achieving the goal of the accompanying text. Examining this image invites questions about how medieval artists used visual tools to enhance the interpretive power of their work and showcases the relationship between art and storytelling.

Video

Primary Source Reading 

Hammelburg Mahzor, 1347-1348, Darmstadt, Hessische Lands-und Hochschulbibliothek, Cod. Or. 13.  


Maḥzor for the entire year, according the the Western Ashkenazi rite, 1257-1258, Bodleian Library MS. Michael 617

The Rothschild Mahzor, 1490, Italy, Courtesy of the Library of The Jewish Theological Seminary of America, MS 8892.

Further Reading

  • Caplan, Jane. Written on the Body: The Tattoo in European and American History. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000. https://doi.org/10.1515/9780691238258
  • Epstein, Marc Michael (ed.). Skies of Parchment, Seas of Ink: Jewish Illuminated Manuscripts. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2015
  • Gertsman, Elina. “‘The Breath of Every Living Thing’: Zoocephali and the Language of Difference on the Medieval Hebrew Page.” Art History, 46 (2023): 714-748.
  • Williamson, Beth. Christian Art: A Very Short Introduction. Very Short Introductions; 107. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.

Discussion Questions

  1. How do images and illustrations help convey messages or ideas in ways that words alone cannot?
  2. How might combining text and imagery be helpful when studying the Middle Ages?
  3. What challenges might historians face when interpreting the intentions behind works of art? 
  4. What can art from religious texts teach us about the values and beliefs of the societies that created them?

Cite

Lederhendler, Sivan Millie. "Explaining Oddities in Medieval Jewish Art," Middle Ages for Educators, December 4, 2024. Accessed [date]. https://middleagesforeducators.princeton.edu/explaining-oddities-medieval-jewish-art