Abstracts

Codex Parma De Rossi 997 (Palatina 1753, Richler 1098) is an extensive collection of private, occasional prayers copied in the Byzantine cultural orbit in the fifteenth century. Many of the supplications are philosophical in their content and terminology, and are ascribed to both Jewish and non-Jewish philosophers. Among the authors of these prayers one finds the names of Aristotle, Hippocrates and Maimonides. In my paper I propose to look at this genre of medieval literature, from different angles: transconfessional, philosophical, and literary. I will concentrate in particular on the prayers attributed to Aristotle. Supplications in his name are found in Arabic sources (for example, the anthology of Mubashshir bin Fātik), in Hebrew translations of the Arabic (e.g., Musarei ha-Filosofim), and eventually made their way to yeshivah students in sixteenth century Poland (see responsa 6-7 of R. Moses Isserles), where they were in part responsible, according to some historians, for the institution of Jewish censorship.

This paper will explore 9th Century Qur’ans produced in the Middle East for local patrons which had a second life in North Africa in the 11th century.

From the tenth to the twelfth century, ivory plaques fashioned in Constantinople made their way into the hands of patrons in the West. From southern Italy and France to Spain and Germany, these ivories were affixed to the covers of deluxe liturgical manuscripts and given sumptuous new settings of gold and precious gems. Despite their importance during the period, these treasure bindings have received little scholarly attention. In these rare discussions, the reuse of Byzantine ivories for the liturgical manuscript covers has been interpreted primarily as a visual statement made by the patron (usually German and associated with, if not part of, the ruling elite) about his status and/or association with the Byzantine court. However, the widespread use of such ivories across Western Europe by royal, ecclesiastical, and monastic patrons indicates that this interpretation only represents a piece of a larger trend.

This paper examines a sample of treasure bindings with Byzantine ivories made for a range of patrons in order to expand upon our understanding of this practice of reuse in the ornamentation of sacred books. By comparing the covers produced for a variety of contexts, it becomes apparent that the patron—whether an abbot in Naples or a queen in Spain—had certain expectations of what subject matter was deemed appropriate and how such treasure bindings were to appear. Working within these constraints and with ‘ready-made’ ivories, artisans managed to create covers that addressed the individual needs of the patron. This comparative study, unlike previous examinations limited to one cover or one region, offers a more comprehensive view of patrons’ expectations regarding the reuse of these ivories and the artists’ resulting creations.
 

This illuminated manuscript is one of the masterpieces of the French National Library. The text, identified as a Siddur and Mahzor by the Spanish scribe and the likely executor of the first decoration, does not fully adhere to a Spanish tradition though part of the iconography can, in fact, be linked to the Spanish tradition. Italy was at that time one of the most important havens for Jews exiled from Spain. Scribes and artists incorporated their own traditions into the work they produced for Italian Jews while simultaneously adapting their art to the Renaissance context. This is the case with regard to the manuscript from the Smith Lesoueff donation. According to the colophon of the scribe, the copy and the first part of the decoration were finished in Emilia-Romagna, probably in Ferrara on February 15th 1520 ( 26 first Adar [5]280) by the well-known Spanish scribe Moise ben Hayyim Aqrish for his patron Isaac ben Emmanuel Norcia, a Jewish banker from the duchy of Est. However, a note at the beginning of the manuscript indicates that the work was instead created for Contsilla, Isaac ben Emmanuel’s wife. It is likely that she decided to order the additional figurative scenes depicting Jews – maybe her own family - in prayer both at home and in the synagogue. After the death of his father in 1561, Jacob ben Isaac Norcia inherited the manuscript and decided to complete the unfinished decoration in a very different style. One year later, Jacob died and the manuscripts passed to one or more unknown individuals who likely tried to complete the still-unfinished decoration by commissioning other artists. Four teams of artists consisting of illuminators and painters of varying talent failed to complete the ornamentation. The result is a profusion of styles and colour palettes that abruptly ends on page 245.

Owners and artists contributed to a patchwork of styles that provide us with a glimpse of the history of the manuscript and of the revolutionary period during which the culture of the Spanish Diaspora spread in Italy. Traces of censorship testify to the degree of acceptance (or lack thereof) and the degree to which Jews were able to integrate into the areas influenced by the Italian Renaissance.
 

In this paper I explore:
1) Luis de Guzmán and other possible Christians patrons of medieval translations of the Bible.
2) The invitation to Arragel and the proposed Jewish / Christian collaboration.
3) The consequences of the patronage for Arragel: Christian materials in his translations, Christian and Jewish passages in the glosses, possible Jewish traditions in the illuminations.
4) How Arragel’s work was considered by his patron.
 

The manuscript MS BNF Paris Arabic 1 contains the entire Old Testament in Arabic and is known to have provided the basis for the Arabic portions of the Paris Polyglot. It was copied in 1585 CE in a scriptorium in Cairo. Four distinct scribes, two of which were Muslim professionals, were commissioned with its production for the Coptic Patriarchate. The codex exhibits a concerted attempt to gather all canonical books of the Coptic Church in Arabic, drawing from texts of varying provenances. Of particular interest is the Pentateuch, which furnishes Saadiah Gaon’s Judaeo-Arabic translation in Arabic letters with a critical apparatus, glosses and comprehensive introduction that mentions the cooperation of Jewish scholars. I shall present the intriguing history of this multi-faith manuscript in discussing its historical context and sources. Further, I will attempt to shed light on its transfer to early modern Europe in the framework of making the Paris Polyglot.

Two copies of Morisco translations of the Qur’an copied in Salonica are currently known. They are presently kept in libraries in Paris and Florence. The aim of this paper is to examine these two codices from two angles: 1) From a philological and textual point of view: The Florence manuscript can at least be matched with two other copies transcribed in the Iberian Peninsula. As for the Paris manuscript, it cannot be related to any other Aljamiado translation. I shall try to establish lines of textual transmission of the Islamic holy text translation, both from a textual and linguistic standpoint, between Aragon and Salonica. 2) In the context of Islamic-Sephardic relations: Sephardic translations of the Bible convey a much more “verbatim” text than their Judaeo-Arabic counterparts. This is also the case with the Qur’anic translation into Romance languages made in Salonica (the Paris manuscript). The paper will address the relationship with the neighbouring Sephardic community from a methodological and linguistic standpoint as well as explore possible pedagogical and proselytizing functions in that environment.

Rodrigo Jiménez de Rada commissioned a translation of the Qur'an in the early 13th century as part of his attempt to assert the dominance of his arch-episcopal see over all the Spaniards, Christian, Jewish, or Muslim. As it happened, however, this new translation by Mark of Toledo was virtually unread in Spain, but thrived almost entirely in later medieval Italy. To patronize a translation of a holy text was one thing; to control who read it and how it was read was something else altogether. This paper will explore the limits on patronage and the unpredictable results of translation.