Thesaurus Antiquitatum Sacrarum I
This is the frontispiece to the first volume of Blasio Ugolino’s Thesaurus Antiquitatum Sacrarum, a thirty-four-volume collection of Latin treatises on Jewish customs, laws, institutions, and sacred rites, printed in Venice. The engraving by Giovanni Cattini illustrates the biblical story of the golden calf in a most uncommon manner. Moses with horns points to the female figure sitting on the pedestal, holding in one hand a crown and a scepter in the other, possibly alluding to a sovereign authority. Aaron, with his hands on the head of the calf, looks at her in a dejected manner. The engraving is signed Jo. Cattini.
Credits
Blasius Ugolini, from Thesaurus antiquitatum sacrarum complectens selectissima clarissimorum virorum opuscula, in quibus veterum Hebraeorum mores, leges, instituta, ritus sacri, et civiles illustrantur (Venice, 1744), frontispiece. Harvard University Libraries.
Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 5.
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