On Biblical Legends in Medieval Art

Author(s): Joseph Gutmann

Source: Artibus et Historiae, Vol. 19, No. 38 (1998), pp. 137-142
Published by: IRSA s.c.
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1483588
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JOSEPH GUTMANN
On BiblicalLegends in MedievalArt
Christian, Islamic and Jewish medieval manuscripts fre-
quently have illustrations of extra-biblical legends. These
depictions, as many recent studies have demonstrated, are
often rooted in ancient Jewish sources.1 The supposition of
some scholars that these legends were also illustratedin indi-
vidual Jewish books such as the Septuagint and the works of
the historian Josephus is an argumentum ex silentio, as no
such ancient illuminatedJewish manuscripts have come to
light.2
The earliest illuminated Hebrew manuscripts with extra-
biblical legends are from thirteenth-centuryEurope. However,
it must be stressed that both Christianand Islamic literarytra-
ditions, which creatively utilized Jewish biblical narrativesfor
their own theological purposes, exerted a direct influence on
many Christianand Islamic artistic renderings.3
Let us examine three legendary biblicalepisodes to better
understandthis complex literarydevelopment and the impact
these legends had on Jewish, Christian and Islamic artistic
depictions.
1. In a fourteenth-century Catalonian Christian Psalter
miniature(Paris,BibliothequeNationale,MS lat. 8846, fol. 166)
we see an unusual scene of an angel embracingAdam's body,
a still largely unformed lump of clay, while a gesturing God
stands nearby. Similarly, a fourteenth-century Catalonian
Passover Haggadah (London, BritishLibrary,MS Or.2884, fol.
lv) has the modeled body of Adam standing in the center sur-
rounded by eight winged angels. Some of these angels are
prostratingthemselves before Adam,while others appear to be
touching him, all in an act of adoration [Fig. 1]. Althoughit has
been claimed that these images represent the angelic creation
of man, there is little evidence to support this conclusion.4
Angels in Christianityand Judaism are ministersor servants of
God; they are generally not depicted as partnersin the divine
act of creation.5Most likely,these two miniaturesare based on
such sources as the first-centuryA.D. VitaAdae et Evae 14 -
a work well-known in the Middle Ages - which reads: "And
Michaelwent out and called all the angels, saying, 'Worshipthe
image of the LordGod, as the LordGod has instructed.'"6
In Islamic art we find the earliest image of this legend in
the Kulliyat-iTarikhof Hafiz-iAbru (Istanbul,Topkapi Palace
Museum, Bagdat 282, fol. 16), possibly made in Herataround
1415.7 A beautifullyattiredand crowned Adam stands before
angels prostratingthemselves before him. On the side stands
Satan [Fig. 2]. This scene follows the description given in the
Qur'an,Sura 2:32: "Andwhen we said to the angels: Prostrate
yourselves before Adam, they fell prostrate,all save Iblis."8
2. Over a period of some 250 years we find several depic-
tions of two ravens present at the fratricide[Cainand Abel] in
137
 .

JOSEPHGUTMANN

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1) ((Angels prostrating themselves before Adam> (London, British Library,MS Or.2884, fol. 1v).
(After Cahiers archeologiques, 39 (1991), p. 81, fig. 7), Haggadah, Catalonia, 14th century.

medieval Danish and Swedish churches. The oldest rendering been inspired by the Muslim variant of an old biblical tale,
from the church of Hablingbo in Sweden, dating from the end which is simply repeated in late Jewish legends." This conclu-
of the twelfthcentury,shows two ravens next to the two broth- sion is in need of revision in light of new evidence.10 A mid-
ers offering a sacrifice while a devil is standing behind Cain fourth-centuryA.D. Jewish source already records the above
[Fig. 3]. In the church of Birkerod,Denmark,dated 1340-50, illustrated legend: "Cain did not know where to strike him
we again see two fighting ravens, which are shown above Cain [Abel]. He looked about here and there untilhe saw two birds
and Abel sacrificing [Fig. 4].9 fighting;and one rose up against the other,and struck it on its
In a previous study, I stated that "Muslim illustrations mouth, and the blood spurted out, untilit died. Caintook a les-
[fromthe late sixteenth century on (see Fig. 5)] of Cain being son from it, and did the same to Abel [his] brother.Then see-
shown by two ravens how to bury his slain brotherAbel, an ing that he was dead, he feared that his father would demand
episode found in late Jewish sources, may very well have [Abel]from him;and he did not know what to do. Lookingup,

138
 ART
LEGENDSINMEDIEVAL
ON BIBLICAL

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2) ((Angels prostrating themselves before Adam, (Istanbul, Topkapi Palace Museum, MS Bagdat 282, fol. 16),
Kulliyit of Hafiz-iAbriu,Herat, ca. 1415

he saw the bird that had killed its fellow putting its mouth to
the ground; and it dug [a hole] and buriedthe other dead one,
and covered it with earth. Cain did the same to Abel, so that
[his father] might not find him."11
Interestingly enough a Georgian work probably written
before 607 also speaks of Cain having killedAbel with a stone
which two devils in the form of ravens had shown him.12
3. Two fifteenth-centurysouth German Passover Hagga-
dah illustrations reveal a crowned Pharaoh who is drowning
in the waters of the Red Sea, but who raises his folded
hands in prayer. The accompanying inscriptions read: "By
God's grace, Pharaoh was delivered, because he said: 'God
is just.'"13
In Christianart, the legend of Pharaoh's rescue does not
appear to be illustrated,although it has been claimed that this
is the case. The evidence presented for these depictions in
such early churches as Santa Sabina14 and Santa Maria
Maggiore15or in the miniatures of the Paris Psalter and the
Octateuchs is not convincing.16
In a late sixteenth-century Ottoman miniature (Dresden,
Sachsische Landesbibliothek,MS E 445, fol. 29v) we see the
winged angel Gabriel at the Exodus trying to stuff Pharaoh's

139
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.. .

JOSEPHGUTMANN

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3) Two ravens (on the right) show Cain how to kill Abel (on
the left), Church of Hablingbo, Sweden, 12thcentury (After
Iconographisk Post (1983), p. 23, fig. 1)

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.;?$- 5) <Tworavens show Cain how to bury Abel's body>,

s!
r*: ?r
Qisas al-Anbiya'(Istanbul, Topkapi Palace Museum,
fl ,IY
r MS Hazine 1226, fol. 18v), Istanbul (?), late 16thcentury.
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Si ,tt
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a;yr ? r?.
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I?i;?
4) (Two ravens (on top) show Cain how to kill Abel,,,
Church of Birkerod, Denmark, mid-14thcentury
(After Iconographisk Post, p. 1, fig. 1)
mouth with slimy mud from the sea floor [Fig. 6] to keep him
from confessing and thus being rescued by God.17
One of the oldest extant sources for the story of the repen-
tance and rescue of Pharaohat the Red Sea appears to be the
Qur'an. According to the account in Sura 10:91 Pharaoh
exclaimed at the Red Sea: "Ibelieve that there is no God save

140
 ART
LEGENDSINMEDIEVAL
ON BIBLICAL

Him in whom the children of Israel believes and I am of those

who surrender."18
An early Jewish source, the Mekhiltade Rabbi Ishmael
mentions Pharaoh's rescue, but there is no reference to his
repentence at the Exodus.19Late Jewish sources such as the
eighth-ninth-centuryPirke de Rabbi Eliezer do recount that
Pharaohrepented and praised God, who then delivered him.20
In Muslimtheology God's grace is extended to the infidel
and despot Pharaohwho embodies blasphemous pretensions
to divinity.Muslimcommentators on the Qur'an recount that
the angel Gabrielwas anxious to shut Pharaoh's mouth before
'
\ < 8 tGod's compassion could overtake him. Anothertraditionhas
~\ \ \ J ethe angel Gabrielactuallyglut Pharaoh's mouth with mud from
the sea floor to prevent him from completing his confession,
0 \ ~\ 9ofg as in our miniature.21
While a lost, ancient Jewish account may have served as
~
~/
^/\~ &~ ~iSG
/ \ a foundation for the story in the Qur'anand cannot be ruled
out at this stage of research, it should be realized that Islamic
f _0"f>~~~ ^literary sources had an impact on some medieval Jewish leg-
ends.
The three legendary episodes discussed greatly enrich
our knowledge of the important role that biblical legends
played in medieval artisticdepictions.

6) <(Theangel Gabriel gluts Pharaoh's mouth

at the Exodus from Egypt),(detail) (Dresden, Sachsische
Landesbibliothek MS E 445, fol. 29v), Falnama,
Istanbul (?), late 16thcentury.

141
JOSEPH GUTMANN
1 Cf. the
bibliography cited in M. Friedman, "The Angelic
Creationof Man,"Cahiersarcheologiques 39 (1991), 92-93, n. 63.
2 On the
question of ancient Jewish manuscripts, cf. J.
Gutmann,review of K. Weitzmannand H. L. Kessler, The Frescoes of
the DuraSynagogue and ChristianArt in Speculum 67 (1992), 502-04
and J. Gutmann, The Dura-Europos Synagogue: A Re-evaluation
(1932-1992) (Atlanta,1992), XXVIII-XXXIIf.
3 Cf. J. Gutmannand V. Moreen, "TheCombat between Moses
and Og in MuslimMiniatures,"Bulletinof the Asia Institute1 (1987),
111-121 for Muslimliteraryinfluence on Islamicart. It should also be
noted that illustratedlegends found in biblical Christianmanuscripts
are often not due to directJewish inspiration,as is so frequentlymain-
tained in scholarly writings,but are based on Christiantexts. This is
certainlythe case in such Christianscenes as Joseph who prophesies
from a cup when dining with his brothers. Cf. B. DrakeBoehm, "The
Program of the Leningrad Joseph Pyxis," Gesta 26 (1987), 11-16.
Similarly,the bald, naked Jonah emerging fromthe fish is solidly root-
ed in Christiantraditions. Cf. J. B. Friedman,"Bald Jonah and the
Exegesis of I Kings 2:23,"Traditio44 (1988), 130-44.
4 Friedman, "Angelic," 79-82.
5 Cf. K. Parry,Depicting the Word:ByzantineIconophile Thought
of the Eighthand NinthCenturies (Leiden,1996),84.
6 J. H. Charlesworth,The Old TestamentPseudepigrapha,Vol.2
(New York, 1985), 262; L. Ginzberg, The Legends of the Jews
(Philadelphia,1947), V,84-86, nn. 35-37 and M. E. Stone, A Historyof
the Literatureof Adam and Eve (Atlanta,1992), 6-41.
7 Cf. G. Inal,"Miniatures in HistoricalManuscriptsfromthe Time
of Sharukhin the TopkapiPalace Museum,"in L. Golombek and M.
Subtelny, eds., TimuridArt and Culture:Iranand CentralAsia in the
FifteenthCentury(Leiden, 1992), 108-09.
8 Cf. sources cited in M. Grunbaum, Neue Beitrage zur
Semitischen Sagenkunde (Leiden, 1893), 60; P.Awn, Satan's Tragedy
(Leiden,1983),33, 37 and H. E. Gaylord,"HowSatanael Lost His '-El"'
Journalof Jewish Studies 33 (1982), 304-06.
9 A. G. Kallstrom,"Kainoch Abel med fylgjor,Iconographisk
Post (1983), 22-25; S. F. Plathe, "Kain og Abel i Birkerod,
IconographiskPost (1984), 1-10. C. M. Esman, "Kommentar: Kainoch
koparna," Iconographisk Post (1980-82), 35-36; V. Hernfjall,
"G6tenemastaren- en vadstenamalare med skansk anknytning,"
IconographiskPost (1982-84), 8-24.
10 Gutmann-Moreen,"Combat,"119 and J. Gutmann, "Cain's
Burialof Abel:A Jewish LegendaryMotifin Christianand IslamicArt,"
in J. Gutmann,Sacred Images: Studies in Jewish ArtfromAntiquityto
the MiddleAges (Northampton,1989), X, 95-98 and Addendumet cor-
rigenda X, 2-3. Cf. also L. Bruggerand Y.Criste, "La'voix du sang' et
I'ensevelissmentd'Abel,"Arte cristiana761 (1994), 75-86.
11 Tosefta, Genesis 4:8, M. L. Klein,"TargumicToseftotfrom the
Cairo Genizah," in D. Muhoz Leon, ed. Salvacion en la palabra.
Targum-Derash-Berith (Madrid,1986), 411, 415.
12 W. Ludtke, "Georgische Adam-Bucher,"Zeitschrift fur die
alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 38 (1919), 156; H. M. von Erffa,
Ikonologie der Genesis (Munich 1989), I, 262, 372. Cf. also M. E.
Stone, ArmenianApocrypha Relating to the Patriarchsand Prophets
(Jerusalem, 1982), 35 and idem., ArmenianApocrypha Relating to
142
Adamand Eve (Leiden,1996), 148; A. Ulrich,"ZumBegrabnisAbels,"
Biblische Notizen, 15 (1981), 48-53. The burialof Abel's body is also
found in a somewhat damaged early 14th-century Catalonian
Passover Haggadah miniature (London, British Library,MS Add.
27210, fol. 2v). Inthe lower right-handscene Cain holds an axe in his
left hand and looks up to a reproachingwinged angel. Under Cain's
feet Abel's body appears to be buried in the ground and only his
bloody head and arm seem to be visible. Cf. B. Narkiss, The Golden
Haggadah (London,1997), 23.
13 B. Narkiss, "Pharaohis Dead and Livingat the Gates of Hell,"
Journalof Jewish Art10 (1984), 10.
14 Cf. G. Jeremias, Die Holzturder Basilika S. Sabina in Rom
(Tubingen,1980), 29.
15 Cf. B. Brenk, Die fruhchristlichen Mosaiken in S. Maria
Maggiorezu Rom (Wiesbaden, 1979), 84, 86.
16 Cf. A. Cutler, The Aristocratic Psalters in Byzantium (Paris,
1984), 67. Inthe Psalterand the Octateuchs Pharaohis not being res-
cued, but is being dragged to his watery grave by Bythos, the per-
sonificationof Depth, who has forciblyseized him with both hands. It
should be noted that the halo in Byzantineart is ambiguously used.
There is no doubt that at times the halo denotes holiness, but it may
also refer to a ruler,such as the EmperorsJustinianand Basil. I am
indebted to Prof. John Anderson for this information (Letter,
September 3, 1994). Pharaoh, like a Byzantine emperor, may be
endowed with a halo to indicate his imperialrankand not his sanctity.
Cf. also D. Hoogland Verkerk, "Exodus and Easter Vigil in the
AshburnhamPentateuch,"The Art Bulletin77 (1995), 96, n. 12. For
other illustrations,cf. Narkiss,"Pharaohis Dead,"7-8 and 11-12.
17 K. Ruhrdanz, "Die Miniaturendes Dresdener 'Falnameh"'
Persica 12 (1987), 15 and idem., "The Role of Urban Ateliers in
OttomanMiniaturePaintingsince the Endof the SixteenthCentury,"A.
Singer and A. Cohen, eds., Aspects of Ottoman History, Scripta
Hierosolymitana 35 (1994), 80. I am greatly indebted to Dr. Karin
Ruhrdanz(Letter,June 4, 1997) for advising me that this miniature
should now be dated Istanbul(?), late 16thcentury.Cf. also N. Brosh
and R. Milstein,BiblicalStories in IslamicPainting(Jerusalem, 1991),
90-91.
The Children
18 Cf. W. M. Brinner,trans., The Historyof al-TabarT.
of Israel (Albany,1991), 71.
19 Cf. J. Neusner,MekhiltaAccording to Rabbi Ishmael (Atlanta,
1988), 24, n. 9. Tractate Exodus, Beshalllah 14:28 reads:
"...NeverthelessI have spared you [Pharaoh]for this purpose (Exodus
9:16). Cf. also D. Boyarin,Intertextualityand the Reading of Midrash
(Bloomington,1990), 130, n. 3.
20 Narkiss, "Pharaoh is Dead," 10. Cf. also M. Gaster, The
Chronicles of Jerahmeel or The Hebrew Bible Historiale (New York,
1971) 48:12 on p. 128 and Prolegomenon by H. Schwarzbaum,p.58;
YalkutShimoni,Jonah 3:6 and Ginzberg,Legends, III,29-30 and VI,10,
n.54; Gutmann-Moreen,"Combat,"119.
21 L. Ormsby, "The Faith of Pharaoh: A Disputed Question in
Islamic Theology" (unpublished paper). I am deeply indebted to Dr.
Eric Ormsby for sending me a copy of his study. Cf. A. I. Katsh,
Judaism and the Koran (New York,1962), 47 and Grunbaum,Neue
Beitrage, 161-65.