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The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Acquires a Magnificent Illuminated Hebrew Bible
Ahead of Sothebys Auction

Produced in Spain in the Early-14th Century,

The Complete Illuminated Hebrew Bible
Survives as a Rare Witness to Medieval History

Property From The Collection Of J.E. Safra

A Magnificent Illuminated Hebrew Bible with
Profuse Micrographic Ornamentation,
[Castile: first half of the 14th century]

NEW YORK, 20 December 2017 This morning at Sothebys New York, the auctioneer for todays
Important Judaica sale announced that The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York has acquired
privately for an undisclosed amount a Magnificent Illuminated Hebrew Bible from Spain, which had
previously been scheduled for the auction. Hailing from the renowned collection of Jaqui E. Safra,
the illuminated Bible was produced in Castile during the first half of the 14th century and stands as a
remarkable testament to the cross-cultural influences in the Golden Age of medieval Spain.
Jaqui E. Safra commented: The Bible could not have found a better home than at the Metropolitan
Museum of Art in New York City. I am absolutely thrilled.

Daniel H. Weiss, President and CEO of The Metropolitan Museum of Art said: We are thrilled to add
this treasure of Jewish artistic heritage to The Mets growing collection of important Judaica, where
it will join recent acquisitions such as a 15th-century handwritten copy of the Mishneh Torah, and a
Torah crown and pair of finials of 18th-century Italian silver.

Melanie Holcomb, Curator in the Department of Medieval Art and The Cloisters at The Metropolitan
Museum of Art, added: The Jewish communities of medieval Spain set a high standard for the arts.
This beautiful and rare Bible celebrates the sacred Hebrew text, and remarkably embraces both
Christian and Islamic aesthetic sensibilities. It will completely transform our display of the art of
medieval Spain at the Cloisters, importantly reminding us that this was a vibrant, heterogeneous
society.

THE HISTORY OF CASTILIAN HEBREW BIBLES

This distinguished illuminated Hebrew Bible is an exceptionally

important exemplar of medieval book arts and literary culture.
The tradition of Hebrew Bible production which flourished in
Castile beginning in the 1230s, began to decline due to the
deteriorating political and economic situation of Spanish Jewry,
persecutions connected with the Black Plague of 1348-1349, and
the anti-Jewish riots of 1391. Thus, only three illuminated Hebrew
Bibles from 14th-century Castile have survived, making the
present manuscript incredibly unique. The high quality of its
parchment, the generous quantity of its carpet pages, and the
lavishness of their design, as well as the formal repertoire of the micrographic decoration, make this
volume an exceptional witness to the glorious tradition of medieval Hebrew manuscript illumination.

The tradition of illuminated Hebrew Bibles first began to flourish during the reign of Ferdinand III
(12171252) and continued until the expulsions of the Jews from Spain in 1492 and from Portugal in

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1496-1497. While the production of these Bibles can be ascribed to different artistic schools located
in Castile, Navarre, Catalonia and Portugal, the present manuscripts lavish decoration, both painted
and micrographic (an embellishment whereby a specialized scribe fashions minute script into
ornamental patterns) suggest that it was produced in Castile during the first half of the 14th-century.

When the first embellished Hebrew Bibles began to appear in

Castile during the early 13th-century, their patterns of decoration
were based almost exclusively on an Islamic artistic repertoire, as
seen in the present volume with its geometrically planned
micrographic carpet pages at the end of the codex and
micrographic frames with interlaced designs placed around
significant biblical texts. Some of these patterns share
commonalities in format and composition with illuminations in
Qurans, as well as tooled patterns in book bindings that were
produced in Spain by Muslim, Jewish, and Christian craftsmen
into the 16th-century. It was only gradually--- during the 14th -century--- that the adornment of Hebrew
Bibles in Spain began to reflect some of the motifs common in Gothic art, which was dominant in
Iberian Christian culture of the 13th, 14th, and 15th centuries. The Bibles decoration notably reflects
these artistic interactions among the three coexisting religions, Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, a
phenomenon referred to as convivencia.

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*Estimates do not include buyers premium. Prices achieved include the hammer price plus buyers premium and are net
of any fees paid to the purchaser where the purchaser provided an irrevocable bid.

Images are available upon request

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