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PORTRAYALS OF DANCE IN HEBREW MANUSCRIPTS

András Borgó

Ladies and Gentlemen,

there are ten different Hebrew words in the Bible to express spins, jumps, sidesteps,

and skips1 This fact indicates not only the wealth of the language but also the varied

nature of dances of the time. However, there is no doubt that illustrations from the

late Middle Ages depict the way people danced at that particular period and may only

reflect a mere shadow of the earlier diversity.

I attempt to outline the role of dance in the former European Jewry through a study of

a number of manuscript illustrations. The majority of them were created between

1300-1500 within the triangle between the Iberian Peninsula, the North of Italy and

Southern Germany. I must also add that the first known figural Hebrew book

illuminations date from the 13th century.

Despite their partly common literary foundations, the themes of dance illustrations of

Hebrew manuscripts differ greatly from the Christian pictures of the same period.

Hebrew imagery with a Biblical background depict almost exclusively Miriam’s

dance2, which was, naturally, often illustrated by Christian illuminators too. Among

scenes that are not explicitly religious, family and society dances are common

themes of Jewish and Christian imagery.

As opposed to their chronological order, I wish to discuss pictures according to their

contents below.

I am going to begin with the depictions of Miriam, whose dance, as mentioned earlier,

is the most frequent theme of illustrations.

Let us hear the illustrated biblical text first.

1 See: Lapson, Dvora, Dance Encyclopaedia Judaica (EJ) – CD-ROM Edition © Judaica Multimedia (Israel) Ltd., 19972 Exodus 15:20

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quote

And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and

all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances.

And Miriam answered them, Sing ye to the LORD, for he hath triumphed

gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea3.

unquote

At that time in Israel triumphal and thanksgiving celebrations were accompanied by

women’s dances as referred to in further biblical descriptions.4

There are often only three persons depicted in illustrations of Miriam’s dance scene,

for example in the so-called Hispano-Moresque Haggadah made around 1300 in

Castile. The Haggadah (the “narrative” told at Passover) became a separate book

under the title Haggadah shel pesakh as a part of the Mahzor, the book of holiday

prayers and has been the most often illustrated work of Hebrew liturgy since late

mediaeval times. Fig. 15

3 Ex 15:20The Hebrew text:Ex 15:20

Ex 15:21

(Source: BibliaTéka CD-ROM, published by Arcanum Adatbázis, undated)4 The singing and dancing reception of Saul and David after their victory over Goliath (1 Samuel 18:6) or the arrival of Jephthah who is received with a dance by his daughter, Iphis (Judges 11:34). 5 Hispano-Moresque Haggadah. London, British Library (BL) Or. 2737, fol. 86v (Castile, around 1300)

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The picture is surrounded by a decorated border whose upper part reflects elements

of the Mozarabic-Islamic-Jewish architectural style. The lower half of the illustration

shows the figure of three women robed in long clothes. The person in the middle is

taller than the other two, her head is covered by a shawl. In her left hand there is a

disk-shaped object with a wide, decorated rim and a heraldic lily in the middle. The

other two women are young, as implied by their bare heads and shoulder-long hair.

The woman on the left has her arms stretched out sideways and her body is bent

back (or sideways) at the waist; while the other woman holds her hands level with her

head – all this evoke the image of dancing. The object held by the person in the

middle must be a drum giving the rhythm of the dance. The dancer on the left has a

wooden clapper in her hand, her outstretched arms show the posture before the two

wooden sticks are clapped together.6

There is a biblical verse referring to the dancing Miriam (with some insignificant

amendments) on the top of the page to supplement the illumination.7

The next example is from a Haggadah originating from the second half of the 15th

century the South of Germany and depicts one person – a solo dancer, if you like.

Fig. 2.8

Among the frequent figures of the Haggadah there are four sons. Each one of them

is characterised by one human trait: the first one is the wise (hakham), the second

one is the evil (rashah), the third one is the simple (tam), and the fourth is also dull-

6 The material of the instrument is apparent from its yellowish-brown colour.7 See: Narkiss, Bezalel, Hebrew Illuminated Manuscripts in the British Isles. Volume One. The Spanish and Portuguese Manuscripts. Part One: Text. Jerusalem and London: The Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities and The British Academy: 498 Jerusalem, Schocken ms. 24087, fol.10r (from Southern Germany, 1450-1500)

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witted - its Hebrew definition (sh’eyno yode’ah lish’ol) means “the one who cannot

ask questions”. Images depicting the latter (similarly to this one) show one of the

common features of fools and jesters, a fool’s cap.

This drawing shows a figure that while jumping, holds its left foot with its right hand.

From a musical point of view, we should take note of the three bells or jingles

attached to the fool’s cap. Their purpose is to attract attention of both humans and

dark forces with their undefined pitch. The biblical verse9 on priests’ robe stresses the

protective function of such bells.

The musician in the next illustration is comparable to this jumping figure. Fig. 310

In a detail of this North-Italian illustration originating from the second half of the 15th

century a musician is accompanying two dancing pairs.

It is well known that mediaeval Christianity prohibited dancing (however, there are

still known depictions of dancing angels and the dance of David and Salome).11

9 Exodus 28: 35And beneath upon the hem of it thou shalt make pomegranates of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, round about the hem thereof; and bells of gold between them round about:A golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, upon the hem of the robe round about.And it shall be upon Aaron to minister: and his sound shall be heard when he goeth in unto the holy place before the LORD, and when he cometh out, that he die not.

(King James version)3510 Roma, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana (BAV) cod. Ross.498, fol.85v (Northern Italy, 3rd quarter of the 15th century)11 The round dance of the angels, the dance of David in the Old Testament at the Ark of God (2 Samuel 6) or the description of the dance of Salome in the New Testament (Matthew 14:6; Mark 6) can be seen in building decorations, manuscripts and paintings. Sachs, referring to Gougaud, notes that the synods of the Catholic church refused to permit dancing in churches and in their vicinity. Sachs, Curt, Eine Weltgeschichte des Tanzes: 170. By the way, Gougaud mentions a literary example from the 7th century of the total prohibition of singing and dancing festivities: „(‚Dicta Pirminii, 22’) Nullus christianus neque ad ecclesiam, neque in domibus, neque in triviis nec in nullo loco ballationes, cantationis, saltationis, jocus et lusa diabolica facire non presumat.” Gougaud, Louis, La danse dans les églises Revue d’histoire ecclésiastique, Louvain, 1914: 11

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There were prohibitions in Jewish life, too, for example in the Talmud, regarding the

dance with persons of the opposite sex.12 One of the few exceptions were dances on

the occasion of the joyous spring holiday, the Purim. Fig. 3a

This picture depicts one of these holidays: the men probably hold or swing their pair’s

left hand. Their legs are bent at the knee which may indicate a hopping dance, the

saltarello (as argued by Barbara Sparti13), while women – partly as a result of their

trailing clothes made of heavy fabrics – settle for sober, measured movements. The

musician-jester is wearing a yellow coverall and a hood covering his ears, but there is

no telling whether it has any bells attached or not. He is also dancing while

performing his music; his instruments are a drum and a pipe or recorder played with

one hand. This is the most effective combination of instruments for one single

entertainer, and, accordingly, it is often seen in various illustrations – not only in

Hebrew manuscripts, of course. This miniature demonstrates two important functions

of dancing: the musician is dancing to entertain the audience, while the two pairs do

so for their own delight.

Acrobatic movements are portrayed in a less realistic manner in the next Hebrew

manuscript illustration of South-German provenience from the first decades of the

14th century. Fig. 414

12 Only married couples and very young children were exempt from the prohibition. See: Friedhaber, Zvi, Jewish Dance Traditions. Cohen, Selma Jeanne (ed.), International Encyclopedia of Dance. Vol. 3: 602-60613 Images in which the man's leg is lifted – most often backwards and bent at the knee as if he were hopping – were /.../ fairly common /.../ and may well indicate performance of the saltarello. According to contemporary chronicles, the saltarello was the most popular of all Quattrocento dances /.../ Whether the Purim miniature and other similar portrayals actually do represent the saltarello or not, they certainly depict dancing, and it is possible that the raised leg became the image that most often symbolized the act of dancing in the fifteenth century. Sparti, Barbara, Dancing couples behind the scenes: recently discovered Italian illustrations, 1470-1550. Imago musicae XIII: 9-38 Quoted: 2314 Manuscript of a Machzor, Budapest, library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, A 384, fol. 183v (presumably from the vicinity of Lake Boden, around 1320)

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The upper left part Fig. 4a shown here of the tripartite picture depicting scenes from

the life of Salomon is filled by two bird-headed female figures, two hybrid creatures

and a dancing man in a handstand. As for the two figures on the left it is worth noting

that depicting woman figures with a bird’s head in Hebrew manuscripts is a speciality

of the South of Germany. The remaining three figures are moving exuberantly. The

figure with the bird’s body and the other, winged figure riding on its back have the

usual combination of a pipe held in one hand and a snare drum, together with a cow-

bell with a long bell-clapper. The man in the hand-stand is attempting to drink from a

goblet, which is apparently a showman’s trick. According to one explanation this

scene illustrates the visit of the Queen of Sheba to Salomo.15 What we see is

undoubtedly a scene of dancing and music, which, judged by the biblical text may

portray the jollity that followed the king’s accession to the throne.16

So far there has been little doubt concerning a fundamental question: do these

illustrations really portray dancing? The direction of the legs and arms and indeed the

whole line of movement of the bodies made the answer obvious. In the case of

certain parts (or, in some instances, the entirety) of the next pictures it is not so easy

to decide what we actually see.

Fig. 517 shows an illumination from Franconia in the second half of the 15th century.

To the left, there are two (female) figures, one of them with a plucked- and the other

with a percussion instrument. Below the portrayal of the person playing the string

15 Narkiss, Bezalel and Gabrielle Sed-Rajna (eds.), Index of Jewish art. Iconographical Index of Hebrew Illuminated Manuscripts. Volume IV. Illuminated Manuscripts of the Kaufmann Collection. Budapest, Jerusalem, Paris: The Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, The Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Institut de Recherche et d'Histoire des Textes, 1988: 4/3716 1 Kings 1:39, 4017 The so-called Second Nuremberg Haggadah, Shocken ms. 24087, fol. 22r (Nuremberg or Bamberg, 1465-1470)

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instrument there is the Miriam-quotation referred to earlier. The text below the

remaining eight women refers to their joyful dance. This renders the theme of the

picture obvious. However, the only visual reference to a dance being performed -

apart from the presence of musicians, of course, - is that the figures are holding

hands.

There is rather little movement in the next miniature, too, even though it decorates a

treatise on dance. Fig. 618

In this painting from the dance treatise19 of a famous Jewish dance instructor,

Guglielmo Ebreo da Pesaro, who worked in several towns of Northern Italy during the

mid-15th century (among others in Ravenna in 1448)20, dance is indicated (apart from

the harp accompaniment) by the posture of the arms and hands and the position of

the legs of the three persons touching each other by the tips of their fingers only.

There is no information in the picture that could help us decide whether this is a

scene from Jewish or Christian life. Certain facts, however, indicate that the Jewish

dance instructor might be seen here while teaching Christian women. It is known that

Guglielmo, who converted to Catholicism, was not the only dance instructor who

(under the name of Giovanni Ambrosio) worked for regal courts and other Christian

families. 21

18 Paris, Bibliotheque Nationale, f. Ital. 973, c.21v (Guglielmo Ebreo da Pesaro, De Pratica Seu Arte Tripudii, Italy, 1463)19 De Pratica Seu Arte Tripudii20 See: Smith, A. William, Fifteenth-century dance and music: the complete transcribed Italian treatises and collections in the traditition of Domenico da Piacenza / translated and annotated by ./., vol.I. Stuyvesant, NY: Pendragon Press. Salmen, Walter, Der Tanzmeister . Geschichte und Profile eines Berufes vom 14. bis zum 19. Jahrhundert. Hildesheim; Zürich; New York: Olms, 199721 Sparti quotes a Jewish dance instructor called “Moise” who gave lessons to Christian persons: “Christian men continued to study dancing with a certain ‘Moise’ … who had a school where he taught instrumental music and dancing, played for, and danced with, donne cristiane (Christian women) at carnival.” Sparti, Barbara, Dancing couples (see footnote 14), 81.

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The next miniature is also characterised by a dance performed with measured,

distinguished movements. Fig. 722

This painting from a Lombardian book dates from the first half of the 15th century and

illustrates the chapter of a law digest on the role of women with a wedding, or more

precisely an engagement scene with the slipping on of the engagement ring.23 Fig.

7a

Descriptions of this picture I know of proceed from the assumption that the pair on

the right is the same as the one on the left reaching their hands out to each other.24 If

we agree, we shall regard the column as the separator between two consecutive

scenes: the one on the left portrays the ceremony, and the one on the right shows

the couple’s process to the ceremony or their dance afterwards. To be able to decide

what the scene on the right illustrates, we must consider that the elaborately dressed

couple is moving from right to left. This is the direction of Hebrew scripts, which

means the pictures shall be “read” from right to left, too. It is logical, therefore, that

they are just about to leave for the ceremony on the left. However, the decoration of

many a Hebrew manuscript is the work of Christian artists, even though they worked

under Jewish supervision.25 We do not rule out that a Christian painter was involved

in this painting, all the more so as the name of the illuminator is unknown (Sparti

goes as far as declaring that this picture is the work of a Christian artist26). This

22 Roma, BAV, cod. Ross. 555/III., fol. 220r (Mantua, 1435)23 Compare: Metzger, Therèse et Mendel, La vie juive au Moyen Age. Fribourg: Office du Livre, 1982:22924 E.g. Guttmann, Joseph, Buchmalerei in hebräischen Handschriften. München: Prestel, 1978; Mendel, La vie juive (see footnote 24).25 Still, on many occasions there are obvious signs in the illuminations of a total ignorance of Jewish religious customs and regulations.26 Sparti, Barbara, Jewish Dancing Masters and „Jewish Dance“ in Renaissance Italy. Pugliese, Stanislao G. (ed), The Most Ancient of Minorities. The Jews in Italy. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2002: 79

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means the characteristics of Hebrew imagery do not support the assumption that

these scenes follow each other sequentially from right to left. The bent legs of the

man next to the two musicians playing their wind instruments may also indicate

dance, which may only follow the ceremony preceding it.

Raised legs, a posture we have so far associated with dance also appear in other

Hebrew illuminations. We are basically talking of illustrations of worship that can, by

their very nature, be considered as relevant.

This is illustrated by the next picture dating from the 13th century and made in the

south of Germany, an Ashkenazi territory. Fig. 827

The text page is from the manuscript of a part of a Mahzor covering the regulations of

blowing the shofar. On the right edge of the page there is a human figure, while on

the left there is a creature with bird’s legs and horns on its head. The man on the

right is wearing a long cloak and the high, pointed Jewish hat characteristic of the

time. He is raising a wind instrument, the shofar to his mouth while one of his feet is

resting on a stool. There are many similar illustrations of blowing the shofar to

celebrate the new year.28

According to one explanation found in the Talmud, the shofar is blown on the first day

of the year, the rosh ha shana, to confuse the Satan and thereby to prevent it from

27 Budapest, Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, A 388/II., fol.12v (Southern Germany, 1270-1290)28 E.g.: Paris, Bibilothèque de l’Alliance Israélite Universelle, ms. Heb. 24A, fol. 74v (see: Encyclopedia Judaica, Jerusalem, 1971, 14: 1444, under “Shofar”), or (similarly to the illustration in Paris, depicting a figure with a zoological head, maybe that of a monkey): the so-called Hammelburg Machzor, Darmstadt, Hessische Landes- und Hochschulbibliothek, ms. or. 13, fol.187v (see: Mellinkoff, Ruth, Antisemitic Hate Signs in Hebrew Illuminated manuscripts from Medieval Germany. Jerusalem, Center for Jewish Art, 1999: Fig.53)

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exercising its maleficent forces throughout the year.29 The instruction to place a foot

on a three-legged stool is probably a popular superstition developed over the times.

This belief may be the second reason of illustrations depicting the lifting of a leg for a

purpose other than dancing.

The figure lifting a leg and playing a wind instrument also appears in other pictorial

contexts independent of ritual practice. Fig 930

This is an illustration originating from the second half of the 15th century from the

south of Germany. It depicts the entry of Joseph into Egypt.31 It is not possible to tell

with absolute certainty whether the musician’s figure to the left is raising one of his

legs as a reference to the belief discussed above or, more obviously, as an

illustration of dance and music.

Regarding this issue I wish to present the last picture which comes from the same

manuscript. Fig. 1032

29 Rosh Hashana 16a-16b30 Yahuda Haggadah. Jerusalem, IM ms. 180/50, fol.36r (South Germany, 1450-1500)31 Genesis 41,4332 Yahuda Haggadah. Jerusalem, IM ms. 180/50, fol.38v (South Germany, 1450-1500)

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What we see here is the last scene of Simson’s life when the blinded hero is led

forward to entertain the three thousand Philistines attending the event.33

According to this illuminator’s concept this involved playing music (and maybe

dancing). Samson is portrayed by the pillar as he is preparing to bring it down. Apart

from the Philistines peeking curiously from the top of the pillar and the small figure

holding the hero on a chain there is also a musician playing a brass wind instrument

in a strange posture. It is hard to decide here, too, whether the position of the arms

and legs is an illustration of dancing or is meant to rhyme with the shofar player of

the new year scene.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

it is well known that there are far less surviving mediaeval Hebrew manuscripts than

there are Christian documents of this kind. Consequently, the number of scientific

works devoted to them is also smaller. As far as I can judge, studies of illustrations of

music and dancing are extremely rare. With this short overview I made an attempt to

contribute to the iconography of Hebrew dance illuminations.

Thank you for your attention.

33 Judges 16:25

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