Visual Aspects of Scribal Culture in Ashkenaz by Ingrid M. Kaufmann

Author:Ingrid M. Kaufmann
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: De Gruyter
Published: 2019-08-02T16:56:18.465000+00:00

Figure 64: Hamburg, SUB, Cod. Hebraicus 37, fol. 25r.

Although the borderline between the simpleton and the wicked son seems to be blurred in this particular case, the statement it makes is still quite clear: although he is depicted as an imbecile, the wicked son is nevertheless an angry aggressor swinging a club at his own kin. In Jewish book art, weapons such as swords and spears are often attributes that the evil son possesses.452 This does not seem to fit in at all with the man reclining in our manuscript, though. He has no weapons on him whatsoever – all he is holding in his hands is a wine glass and a matzah, which both play a part in the Pesach ritual. We can therefore safely assume that the axe in the tree stump was not meant to be seen as a weapon, but simply as a tool; as a picture in the Hammelburg Maḥzor from 1348 shows us,453 an axe or hatchet could also be associated with a woodcutter’s work (Figure 65).

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