A Figura of the Soul: Visualizing the Three Faculties of the Soul in a Hebrew Manuscript

Abstract

The headline “This figure is drawn to show all the faculties of the soul” introduces a diagram in a fifteenth-century Hebrew manuscript from Italy (Cambridge MS Dd.10.68). This distinctive composition, echoed in only one similar example, synthesizes textual and visual sources about the soul and the brain. Diverging from conventional medieval diagrams, this form highlights the innovative spirit of its creator. This article analyzes the integrated text, its sources, and the form of the diagram, shedding light on the practice of transforming a written text into an elegant visual representation, seamlessly merging the fields of medicine and philosophy.