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Keys to “The Lost Mirror. Jews and ‘Conversos’ in the Middle Ages”
Alboraique
The image shows a monstrous hybrid with a donkey’s body, horse’s face, man’s eyes, greyhound’s ears, snake’s tail and feet from different beings (man, horse, lion and eagle). From the perspective of old Christians, hybrid bodies were a metaphor for the Judaising of the converso. This is an icon of the converso’s treachery and impure blood. Written to slander conversos, this anonymous pamphlet was very popular in Castile from the end of the 15th century.
