Illuminated Haggadot from Medieval Spain
Biblical Imagery and the Passover Holiday
464 pages | 16 color/174 b&w illustrations | 7 x 10 | 2007
ISBN 978-0-271-02740-1 | cloth: $113.95 sh
Paperback edition is not available in the U.S.
Winner of the 2008 Premio del Rey Prize sponsored by the American Historical Association Winner of a 2007 Choice Outstanding Academic Title
“The book breaks new ground in its close examination of the seven earliest and most significant illuminated Sephardic Haggadot as representatives of a new phenomenon—the embellishment of Haggadot with extensive cycles of Biblical imagery. Recognizing the diversity of relationships among these works, it grounds the emergence and content of their imagery within the unique cultural-intellectual context of late medieval Iberian Jewry.” —Pamela A. Patton, Southern Methodist University
“The scholarship is impeccable throughout, and the closeanalysis of the manuscripts’ imagery and sources is deeplyimpressive. The discussion of visual motifs in the illustrations;the articulation of the concept of visual congruence; the conclusionsabout the interrelationship of the manuscripts; and the identificationof the midrashic works reflected in the images, are all learned,thorough, and convincing. Together they constitute a major contributionto the field of medieval Jewish manuscript illumination.”—Sara Lipton, SUNY, Stoney Brook
Emerging in Spain after 1250, Jewish narrative figurative paintingbecame a central feature in a group of illuminated Passover Haggadotin the early decades of the fourteenth century. Illuminated Haggadot from Medieval Spain describes how the Sephardic Haggadotreflect different visualizations of scripture under various conditionsand aimed at a variety of audiences. Though the specifics of thecreation of these works remain a mystery, this book delves intothe cultural struggles that existed during this period in historyand shows how those conflicts influenced the work.
The culture surrounding the creators of the Sephardic Haggadot wassaturated in conflict revolving around acculturation, polemics withChristianity, and struggles within Sephardic Jewry itself. Kogman-Appelpresents the Sephardic Haggadot as visual manifestations of a minoritystruggling for cultural identity both in relation to the dominant culture and within its own realm.
KatrinKogman-Appel is Lecturer in the Department of Arts at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva. Kogman-Appel’s credentials include publishing Jewish Art Between Islam and Christianity: The Decoration of Hebrew Bibles in Spain (2001) as well as contributing to Imaging the Early Medieval Bible, edited by John Williams and published by Penn State Press in 1999.