É. Apor (ed.): David Kaufmann Memorial Volume: Papers Presented at the David Kaufmann Memorial Conference, November 29, 1999, Budapest.

ORMOS, István: David Kaufmann and his Collection

ISTVÁN ORMOS correct position of the leaves owing to his ignorance of the Hebrew script. As we have shown above, this is out of the question because the general structure of the ornamentation leaves no doubt that the artist was familiar with the correct position of the leaves and he never made mistakes in this respect. Rather, this phenomenon is to be attributed to his playful mind, which tried to lift the boredom of long and tedious working hours with such childish jokes. However, another idea comes to mind also. It has been recorded that in modern states, after great political changes, when for some reason it was impossible to issue new stamps with the portrait of the new ruler, or, in the case of the collapse of a monarchy, with the emblems of the new republic, the old stamps were retained for a while but they had to be put on the envelopes upside down, otherwise they were not valid. So one may ask himself, whether in our case the strange position of the heads could be simply a source of humour or derision? On account of their iconographical interest and simple charm let us select some signs of the Zodiac - in this type of Mahzor they illustrate two piyyuts by Eleazar Kalir (6th c.), the prayer for dew and rain on the Day of Atonement. The types of representation of the signs of the Zodiac in our manuscript closely correspond to similar representations in contemporary Christian calendars, breviaries and psalters.

15

9 Within the framework of the religio-astrological interpretation of the cosmic system, the Zodiac represents the signs of the night sky while the illustrations of the months stand for the earth by representing the labours characteristic of the given period of the year.

16

0 The most interesting and most enigmatic of all of them is without doubt the sign of Gemini (fig. 10). Generally, the representation of this sign ranges from a transformation of Castor and Pollux as a caressing pair of a male and female to two armed knights embracing in a fight.

16

1 In our case we can see two dog-headed figures facing each other holding an unidentifiable device with a shaft in their hands (a mirror with a red frame? a shaft or stick with a red plate? a flower?).

16

2 It also seems as if the figure on the right had a kerchief on its head, suggesting that the figures are male and female.

16

3 Such a representation of Gemini is unknown elsewhere in Europe, and Gotthard Strohmaier has succeeded in tracing this motif to the Islamic world at the same time recognizing it also in one of 15

8 FINGERNAGEL - HAIDINGER 2002. 34. 15

9 SED-RAJNA 1983. 32-37, esp. 32-33. l6

0Gerlinde STROHMAIER-WIEDERANDERS, Imagines anni. Monatsbilder. Von der Antike bis zur Romantik. Halle 1999. 46. This work deals extensively and exhaustively with the characteristic representations of the labours of the months appearing in the medallions accompanying the signs of the Zodiac. Cf. also Lexikon der christlichen Ikonographie 1968-1976. III. 274-279. "'See SED-RAJNA 1983.34. "

2MÜLLER - VON SCHLOSSER, Bilderhaggaden 1898. 117. NARKISS - SED-RAJNA 1988. Tripartite Mahzor, vol. !. Card No. 13. 160