Abstract
The production and consumption of honey have inspired linguistic and visual metaphors in letters, folk customs, and the plastic arts. The images conveying the honey metaphor in medieval and modern Jewish art emphasized the operations with and about honey: the human or animal appetite for it and enjoyment in its consumption, as well as its mysterious production and courageous protection by the bees. The natural phenomenon of bee honey and bodily reactions to it was symbolically projected to represent human intellectual learning. Visual implementations of the honey metaphor in Hebrew books and synagogues and on Jewish ritual objects moralized nature in order to propagate aspiration for divine wisdom.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 370-394 |
| Number of pages | 25 |
| Journal | Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture |
| Volume | 14 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Dec 2020 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2020 Equinox Publishing Ltd.
Funding
The research was supported by the Israel Science Foundation (grant no. 326/13). The article is based on my lecture ‘Honig und Wissen in der traditionellen jüdischen Kunst’ at the international conference Bienen und Honig in den Religionen und in unserer heutigen Welt at the Melanchthon Academy in Cologne (September 6, 2018).
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Israel Science Foundation | 326/13 |
Keywords
- Aspiration for wisdom
- Bees
- Honey metaphor
- Judaism
- Religious art
- Visual arts