Description: The Sponsa reclines on a bed, resting her head on one hand. Sprigs of vine grow from her body which 3 women seem to be picking or harvesting. Thes Sponsa points away from herself with her left hand. In the lower register, Christ draws the Sponsa into the winde cellar with his right hand and offers a chalice of wine with his left.
Interpretation: The image represents women or nuns in contemplative repose, overcome by the influence of the divine Spirit.
miniature
Flanders or Upper Rhineland
The image belongs to a group of Mystical Union miniatures in which the Sponsa is represented as the bride of Christ. There are only 4 extant of the original 5, which illustrate the successive stages of the Sponsa's withdrawal into contemplation.
Rothschild Canticles (f. 66r): The connubium spiritualeRothschild Canticles (f. 70r): Sleeping Sponsa; Christ instructing the handmaidens; gazelles and the hinds of the fieldRothschild Canticles (f. 73r): Coronation of the Sponsa; winter and spring
Collection of William Alexander Douglas, Duke of Hamilton and Brandon.
Reverend Walter Sneyd, gift from Douglas in 1856.
Sotheby, sold 16 December 1903, no.513 Bernard Quaritch, London.
Collection of Edmond de Rothschild, MS 98, sold 24 June 1968 no.1 in Paris, Palais Galliéra.
Acquired from H.P. Kraus in 1968 as the gift of Edwin J. Beinecke.
Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University
