Getty Museum
A Jewish Woman Devouring Her Child during the Siege of Jerusalem
Creator
Boucicaut MasterFrench Illuminator · 1390–1430
All works by this person →In the early 1400s, the Boucicaut Master was the leading master of manuscript illumination in Paris and one of the most influential artists working in the International style in northern Europe. The Boucicaut Master appears to have supervised a talented team of artists who produced manuscripts commissioned by the king of France, high-ranking aristocrats, and the wealthy bourgeoisie. He probably al
More on Getty ULAN- Date
- about 1413–1415
- Medium
- Tempera colors, gold leaf, gold paint, and ink
- Culture
- French
- Department
- Manuscripts
- Institution
- Getty Museum
The Boucicaut Master often included witnesses to the events he depicted: here two men observe a horrendous, cannibalistic act through a window. A Jewish woman named Mary eats the hand of her child, whom she had killed and roasted. When the Romans beseiged Jerusalem in A.D. 70, leading to a terrible famine, hunger had supposedly led to acts of desperation. The miniature follows a discussion of the siege and prefaces a text that speaks against Jews, whose tribulations were believed to be the result of their failure to accept Jesus as the Messiah. Boccaccio states that, just as the Jews captured Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, so the Romans captured the Jews' holy city.
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