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Relazioni a Tema Libero RELAZIONI A TEMA LIBERO Andreina Contessa LA RAPPRESENTAZIONE DELL’ARCA DELL’ALLEANZA NEI MANOSCRITTI EBRAICI E CRISTIANI DELLA SPAGNA MEDIEVALE L’arca dell’alleanza e` uno dei motivi ico- un periodo che va dalla fine del secolo XIII al nografici maggiormente raffigurati nell’arte tardo XV, nelle quali vengono ordinatamente ebraica antica e medievale. Simbolo dell’al- assemblati gli oggetti del santuario e del Tem- leanza e dell’incontro spirituale tra l’uomo e pio 1. L’esempio piu` antico e` una Bibbia di To- Dio, questo cofano di legno di acacia rivestito ledo del 1277 che si trova attualmente presso di oro puro dentro e fuori, sormontato dai che- la Biblioteca Palatina di Parma (MS 2668, rubini era custodito nella parte piu` interna e fols. 7v-8) 2. Sui due fogli gli oggetti sono di- inaccessibile del Santuario descritto nell’Esodo sposti in modo arbitrario, non legato cioe` alla (37,1-9) e poi nel Tempio. L’arca dell’alleanza, loro disposizione nel Santuario, e sono visti di fatto, e`ilprimo oggetto d’arte del quale par- frontalmente cosı`dacreare un legame tra tutti la la Bibbia, aprendo la lunga lista delle istru- gli elementi, ciascuno accompagnato da una zioni per la costruzione del tabernacolo. Essa e` scritta esplicativa solo parzialmente conserva- descritta nella Bibbia con una minuzia e una ta (Fig. 1). chiarezza straordinarie, eppure essa sara` rap- Soltanto un oggetto e` racchiuso in una presentata visivamente soltanto dopo la sua cornice verde a carattere vegetale: l’arca del- scomparsa, fatto questo che ne accresce il ca- l’alleanza, riconoscibile dalle tavole della Leg- rattere simbolico di oggetto del passato, che di- ge sormontate dai cherubini, denominati ke- viene portatore di una valenza messianica. Do- ruvim,edal kapporet,ilcoperchio dell’arca. po la sua oscura sparizione al tempo della di- L’arca e` identificabile unicamente attraverso struzione del Primo Tempio, essa diviene un il nome degli elementi che la compongono e simbolo e uno dei temi centrali del pensiero non attraverso il nome che dovrebbe identifi- ebraico e, al contempo, un motivo iconografico carla, aron ha-berit. Non solo, ma cherubini di gran rilievo nell’arte ebraica. e kapporet fanno parte del corpo esterno del- La descrizione e l’interpretazione della l’arca, mentre le tavole della Legge erano con- forma visiva che l’arca prende nei manoscritti tenute al suo interno. La miniatura le mostra, della Spagna medievale, sono il tema di questo quasi in trasparenza, quasi fossero l’unico breve intervento. Le doppie pagine di apertu- scopo dell’esistenza dell’arca. Eliminando il ra delle Bibbie sefardite dei secoli XIII-XV co- corpo dell’arca a favore di cio` che essa contie- stituiscono una delle creazioni piu` originali ne, la Torah diviene il fulcro della composi- dell’arte ebraica medievale che non ha eguali zione. nella miniatura dell’epoca. Esse non accompa- In una Bibbia eseguita a Perpignan una gnano e non illustrano nessun testo particola- ventina di anni dopo, nel 1299 (Bibliothe`que re, ma sono una sorta di introduzione. Esisto- Nationale de France, MS. he´b.7, fols. 12v-13), no numerosi esempi di queste composizioni per meglio conservata della precedente, troviamo 1 E. Revel-Neher, Le signe de la rencontre: l’Ar- tion of Hebrew Bibles in Medieval Spain, Leiden - che d’Alliance dans l’art juif et chre´tien du second Boston 2004, pp. 68-98. au dixie`me sie`cles, Association des Amies des E` tu- 2 G. Tamani, Elenco dei manoscritti ebraici mi- des Arche`ologiques Bizantino-Slaves et du Christia- niati e decorati della ‘Palatina’ di Parma, «La Bi- nisme Orientale, Paris 1984, pp. 131-138; Id., Le te´- bliofilia» 70 (1968), pp. 39-136, n. 1, p. 46; B. Ri- moignage de l’absence. Les objets du Sanctuaire a` chler (ed.), Hebrew Manuscripts in the Biblioteca Byzance et dans l’art juif du XIe au XVe sie`cles, Pa- Palatina in Parma, Jerusalem 2001, n. 1, p. 3; Re- ris 1998, pp. 64-91; K. Kogman-Appel, Jewish Book vel-Neher, Le te´moignage, cit., pp. 65-67, fig. 58; Art between Islam and Christianity. The Decora- Kogman-Appel, Jewish Book Art, cit., pp. 68-88. 153 Andreina Contessa una composizione del tutto simile, ma con alcu- La vicinanza dell’arca, del bastone di ni cambiamenti significativi nel modo di rag- Aronne e della brocca della manna persiste an- gruppare i sacri utensili 3. Gli oggetti, eseguiti che in manoscritti piu` tardi, come la Bibbia del- in foglie d’oro dipinte, si distaccano chiara- la British Library, Kings 1, fols. 3b-4, datata mente dal fondo e sono inquadrati da ordinate 1385, quella ispano-provenzale del 1300 che si 5 cornici dipinte in blu (Fig. 2). trovava nel Museo di Francoforte .Laforma e Le tre componenti dell’arca sono qui di- la funzione degli oggetti sacri e`inparte basata sul testo biblico, in parte sui commentari rabbi- stinte in modo piu` chiaro che nella Bibbia di nici e in parte sulle interpretazioni fornite in Parma, attraverso le scritte: keruvim e kappo- epoca medieovale da Rashi e da Maimonide 6. ret (ha-keruvim pores´e kenafayim sokekim be- La figurazione dell’arca delle Bibbie kenafehem ‘al ha-kapporet ossia: «i cherubini, spagnole pare ricollegarsi ai primi frammenti distendendo le ali, ricoprono con le loro ali il di Bibbie illustrate trovati nella Geniza del coperchio dell’Arca (kapporet)» (Es. 25,20 e Cairo, datati al X secolo e ora conservati al 37,9) e l’inizio del testo dei dieci comandamenti Museo Nazionale di San Pietroburgo 7. Nel pri- inscritto nella tavole (fol. 12v, Fig. 2). Sotto la mo frammento del 929 (MS II B 17) per esem- menorah si distinguono chiaramente il vaso del- pio, tutti gli oggetti sono appiattiti in una vi- la manna, il bastone di Aronne nella sua versio- sione frontale o dall’alto, resa in modo stiliz- ne fiorita (menzionato nella Bibbia) e in quella zato attraverso un tratto prettamente grafico. sterile forse simbolo della diaspora 4. Tutti que- La figura dell’arca e` evocata da una leggera sti oggetti erano nell’arca e scomparirono con struttura appuntita che pare contenere le ta- questa, misteriosamente, quando il Primo Tem- vole della Legge, mentre i cherubini, sono resi pio fu distrutto. Essi pertanto erano assenti nel attraverso due ali o foglie e non sono rappre- Secondo Tempio. Di tutti questi oggetti il solo sentati perche´ilmanoscritto proviene da un’area islamica dove vigeva il divieto di usare che, secondo la tradizione, riapparira` miraco- la forma umana. losamente in epoca messianica e`ilbastone di La straordinaria continuita` tematica Aronne che ricomparira` tra le mani del Messia. delle Bibbie sefardite in rapporto alla tradi- Il carattere messianico di questo oggetto, cosı` zione ebraica di raffigurare gli oggetti sacri come degli utensili sacri evocati nelle miniature del Tempio, comporta tuttavia una serie di iniziali delle Bibbie ebraiche spagnole e` confer- rielaborazioni e nuove interpretazioni nel cor- mato dalla scritta che accompagna la miniatura so del tempo. La figura dell’arca, ad esempio, nella pagina contigua (fol. 13): e` vista diversamente in una serie di Bibbie ca- ratterizzate dal fondo quadrettato policromo Tutto questo quando il Tempio ancora esiste- comune a molti codici di epoca gotica sia cri- va e il Santuario stava stabilito sulle sue fondamen- stiani che ebraici. Nella Bibbia di Parma del ta. Felice colui che ha visto tutto questo... Che pos- 1300 ca. (Biblioteca Palatina, MS 2810-2811, sa essere ricostruito al piu` presto ai nostri giorni. fol. 7v) l’arca e` inscritta in un quadro posto Possano i nostri occhi vederloeinostri cuori gioire. al centro della composizione, ma e` vista dal- 3 J. Gutmann, Hebrew Manuscripts Painting, braiques me´die´vales enlumine´esenOrient et en New York 1978, pp. 50-51; Revel-Neher, Le te´moi- Espagne, «Bulletin of the John Rylands University gnage, cit., pp. 67-70, pl. 7; Kogman-Appel, Jewish Library» 52 (1969), pp. 397-436, 53 (1970-71), pp. Book Art, cit., pp. 68-88. 169-185; Revel-Neher, Le te´moignage, cit., p. 78. 4 Sul significato escatologico della verga di Aron- 6 Sulle fonti degli oggetti raffigurati si veda: evel eher ne si veda R -N , Le signe, cit., pp. 128-131. Nordstrom, Some miniatures in Hebrew bibles, cit., 5 ordstrom C.O. N , Some miniatures in Hebrew pp. 89-105. bibles,in«Synthronon. Art et Arche´ologie de la fin 7 arkiss ´ B. N , Hebrew Illuminated Manuscripts, de l’Antiquite´etduMoyen Age. Recueil d’Etudes», evel eher h Jerusalem 1974, p. 42; R -N , Le te´moigna- Paris 1968, pp. 89-105, figg. 5-6, 13-14; M.-T . ogman ppel Metzger, Les objets du culte, le sanctuaire du De´- ge, cit., pp. 67-70, pl. 7; K -A , Jewish sert et le Temple de Je´rusalem dans les Bibles he´- Book Art, cit., pp. 85-88. 154 L’Arca dell’alleanza nei manoscritti ebraici e cristiani della Spagna medievale l’alto e non di fronte (Fig. 3) 8.Ledue tavole carattere architettonico e, come vedremo, an- della Legge non appaiono piu` una accanto al- che da quelle cristiane. l’altra, bensı` una sotto l’altra. Per la prima La prima rappresentazione dell’arca del- volta sono qui rappresentate inoltre le stanghe l’alleanza si trova sulle monete coniate al tem- descritte in Es. 37,4-6, infilate nei quattro po della rivolta di Bar Kokba dopo la caduta anelli dorati previsti per trasportarla. Una si- del Tempio nel 132-135 e.v., dove appare la mile figurazione dell’arca dell’alleanza si ri- facciata di un tempio tetrastile coperto da scontra anche in altri manoscritti sefarditi piu` un’architrave; al centro e` raffigurato un ogget- tardi, del secolo XIV, come la Bibbia dell’Am- to rettangolare retto su piedi e coperto da un brosiana (MS 105 sup., foll.
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