The vibrant colors and elegant gold-leaf Hebrew lettering attest to the care taken to produce the volume of Maimonides’ magnum opus, the Mishneh Torah.a Recently put on display at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, this exquisite 15th-century Italian illuminated manuscript contains Books 7–14 of one of the finest copies of the 12th-century scholar’s compilation of the code of Jewish law, or halakhah (the first six books are in the Vatican Library). But the handful of large painted panels and 41 smaller illustrations throughout the text also give scholars a rare glimpse at Jewish-Christian relations in the tumultuous Renaissance period.
Unlike most of Maimonides’ works, the Mishneh Torah was written in Hebrew (he usually wrote in Arabic), and the scribe who copied the 15th-century manuscript, identified at the end of the volume as Nehemia, was undoubtedly Jewish. According to curator Anna Nizza, however, the wealthy Jewish family that commissioned the book hired local Christian craftsmen to create the rich illustrations, some of which were based on existing Christian models, for example, illustrations of the Four Evangelists.
Though this may seem surprising, given the often-tense relations between Jews and Christians in this period, it was not uncommon. An exhibition earlier this year at the Museum of Biblical Art in New York called Uneasy Communion: Jews, Christians and the Altarpieces of Medieval Spain explored the coexistence of Jews and Christians in 14th- and 15th-century Spain and the cooperation between them to create art for both the church and the Jewish community. The exhibit’s curator, Vivian B. Mann, explained that, “Religious art was not created solely by the faith community it was intended to serve … Jews were painters and framers of these altarpieces, while Christians illuminated the pages of Hebrew manuscripts.” In one altarpiece panel, Christ Among the Doctors, Jewish worshipers are depicted with open prayer books inscribed in correct Hebrew, indicating that at least one of the artists was probably Jewish.b As stated in the exhibit catalogue, the artworks produced by these joint workshops reveal the constant tension between acceptance and prejudice, cooperation and conflict.
The vibrant colors and elegant gold-leaf Hebrew lettering attest to the care taken to produce the volume of Maimonides’ magnum opus, the Mishneh Torah.a Recently put on display at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, this exquisite 15th-century Italian illuminated manuscript contains Books 7–14 of one of the finest copies of the 12th-century scholar’s compilation of the code of Jewish law, or halakhah (the first six books are in the Vatican Library). But the handful of large painted panels and 41 smaller illustrations throughout the text also give scholars a rare glimpse at Jewish-Christian relations in the tumultuous Renaissance period. […]
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Maimonides, as he is best known, is the Greek form of Moshe ben Maimon. He was a polymath and also court physician to Sultan Saladin and the royal family in Cairo.
