My lover is radiant and ruddy, outstanding among ten thousand. His head is purest gold; his hair is wavy and black as a raven. His eyes are like doves by the water streams, washed in milk, mounted like jewels. His cheeks are like beds of spice yielding perfume. His lips are like lilies dripping with myrrh. His arms are rods of gold set with chrysolite. His body is like polished ivory decorated with sapphires. His legs are pillars of marble set on bases of pure gold. His appearance is like Lebanon, choice as its cedars. His mouth is sweetness itself; he is altogether lovely. This is my lover, this my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem. (Song of Songs 5:10-16)

In this symphony of praise the Beloved describes her Lover in a hyperbole of sensuality, solidity, fluidity, fertility, and fantastic abundance.

Where the translation above concludes with "he is altogether lovely," the Bloch's offer "his entirety is delight."

The Beloved's explanation of how her Lover differs from other men is entirely physical. But these explicit symbols are surely expressions of implicit substance.

The senses attract. The senses evoke - often provoke - desire. But do we know our desire well enough to recognize its fulfillment?

Do we desire purest gold, jewels, and polished ivory? Or are these merely cold and lifeless tokens for our true object of desire?

Above is from the Rothschild Canticle. Christ is shown full length and naked, posed between the column of flagellation and the cross. His left leg is tied to the column, he embraces the column with his right arm, and holds the whip of flagellation in his right hand even as he points to his side wound. His right foot and left hand is nailed to the cross. The crown of thorns lies beneath him.