Painted Prophecy

The Rothschild Pentateuch, shown here, is one of the most important Hebrew  illuminated Bibles to survive from the Middle Ages.   

Manuscripts such as this one represent a distinct and evolving tradition of commentary on the Hebrew Bible. Its stunning illustrations are paired with Hebrew text sometimes written in a lavish gold leaf.

The production of Christian and Jewish manuscripts in the Middle Ages were simultaneous.

Artists created sumptuous examples of illuminated manuscripts that were central to the religious practice and study of Judaism, demonstrating the vitality of medieval Jewish culture, even in  a society that was dominated by Christianity. 

This image comes from a Psalter (a book of the 150 Psalms of the Hebrew Bible). The Psalms were believed to have been written by King David, ruler of ancient Israel and one of the Hebrew Bible’s quintessential figures.

David was known for his direct connection to God,  who promised that David's descendants would forever be blessed. 

Although King David lived hundreds of years before Christ, David appears on his knees in prayer to Christ, who appears in the upper register of the letter S. 

The visual relationship between the two reflects the Christian belief that Christ was a continuation of David— both spiritually and as his literal descendant—and that Christ inherited and surpassed the leadership qualities of his forefather.

In this image, Christ accepts the kneeling king’s prayers just as God would.

Medieval Christians understood Christ’s sacrificial death by Crucifixion as forgiveness of Adam and Eve’s sin. This connection was reinforced through belief in the legend that the wood of the Cross was made from the wood of  the tree in Eden.

In this Crucifixion scene from a prayerbook, the skull of Adam is located at the foot of the Cross. According to medieval Christian belief, Christ was crucified on the ground in which Adam was buried.

The placement of his skull here creates a visual connection signifying continuity from  Adam to Christ, and the Hebrew Bible and New Testament.

In the margins is the Old Testament story of Abraham’s near sacrificing of his son Isaac in a God-given task to prove his faith. This scene extends the themes of sacrifice and faith, and serves as a visual connection between Christ and Old Testament figures.

Medieval Christians understood the New Testament as a renewed doctrine that would extend and expand upon what was established in the Hebrew Bible. As a result, Christians believed that they alone were God’s chosen people. 

This concept planted the seeds of anti-Semitic sentiments that can sometimes be seen in medieval Christian illuminations.

Events of the Hebrew Bible were interpreted as history, and were recorded and expanded upon in manuscripts such as this one. 

According to one Christian legend, a siege of Jerusalem resulted in a famine and people were forced into cannibalism. This rendering of this story shows a Jewish woman roasting her own child.

The image follows a discussion of the siege and prefaces a passage against Jews, whose sufferings were believed to stem from their failure to accept Jesus as the Messiah.

For medieval Christian viewers, images like this one confirmed and heightened their prejudices about the Jewish people.