The Hebrew Bible in medieval illuminated manuscripts

by Gabrielle Sed-Rajna, Josephine Bacon (Translator)

Shows examples of artwork from medieval Jewish Bibles, and discusses the way in which various biblical themes are depicted

173 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1987

Reviews

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good source of Jewish medieval art, with an intriguing thesis as to the possibility of various visual traditions the span across hundreds of years and thousands of miles. If you want to follow the academic conversation in this simulated museum exhibit, I would recommend first learning the Hebrew Bible’s major narrative cycles and the Bible’s relationship with other main Judeo-Christian writings (Midrash, Apocrypha, Haggadah, etc.). I’m amazed at all the connections and methods historians use to pin down ridiculously specific facts about medieval societies and their religious beliefs.

One super cool example is the argument over several workshops’ depictions of either the Egyptian princess or her maid receiving baby Moses from the river. One or the other tells us whether the artists worked off a Hebrew or Aramaic translation of Exodus – and this was made possible from a coincidence of a natural homophone between two languages. If you find that sort of thing interesting, then I definitely recommend this.