The Musicians of Nebuchadnezzar as an Example of anti-Islamic Rhetoric in the Beatus Illuminations
Raquel Jiménez Pasalodos
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17792330
Abstract
This article examines the illumination of the Babylonian musicians in the Beatus of Valcavado (970 CE) as a case study of anti-Islamic visual rhetoric in medieval Christian art. Focusing on the iconographic depiction of the musical ensemble described in Daniel 3:5, it explores how the illustrator Obeco selected specific instruments – such as the albogue, goblet drum, cymbals, and three-stringed lute – based not on biblical accuracy but on their symbolic associations with pagan, Islamic, and spirit-possession rituals performed in al-Andalus. Through detailed organological analysis and comparison with archaeological and iconographic sources, the study argues that these instruments were used to deliberately link the Babylonian idolaters with the contemporary Muslim lower classes. The article situates this imagery within broader political and cultural tensions between Christian and Islamic Iberia in the 9th–11th centuries, suggesting that the Babylonian orchestra functions as a theological and ideological critique of Islam, portraying it as an idolatrous and doomed empire. The study also considers Obeco’s potential Mozarabic background as key to understanding his intimate familiarity with the instruments and their socio-religious connotations.
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Jiménez Pasalodos, Raquel. ‘The Musicians of Nebuchadnezzar as an Example of anti-Islamic Rhetoric in the Beatus Illuminations’. Etnografie Sonore / Sound Ethnographies 7, no. 1-2 (2024): 43–61. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17792330.