videos + essays

Joshua ibn Gaon, a decorated Hebrew Bible (MS. Kennicott 2)
Joshua ibn Gaon, a decorated Hebrew Bible (MS. Kennicott 2)

A ritualized, mindful engagement between reader and Hebrew Bible is supported by this manuscript’s lavish decorative program.

<em>The Prato Haggadah</em>
The Prato Haggadah

This unfinished Hebrew manuscript meant for a Passover ritual helps us understand how medieval manuscripts were made

Elisha ben Abraham Cresques and the Farhi Bible
Elisha ben Abraham Cresques and the Farhi Bible

Through art and text, Elisha ben Abraham Cresques penned the Farhi Bible to preserve his religious and cultural heritage for his descendants.

The Catalan Atlas
The Catalan Atlas

The Catalan Atlas reveals how one 14th-century Jewish mapmaker understood the political and ethnic realities of his world. 

From Medieval Spain to the Ottoman Empire, a Hebrew Bible
From Medieval Spain to the Ottoman Empire, a Hebrew Bible

This is one of three known Hebrew Bibles that survive from the Crown of Castile in the 14th century

Ferrer Bassa and the murals of Pedralbes
Ferrer Bassa and the murals of Pedralbes

The Iberian Peninsula was a dynamic place in the fourteenth century, with artists from what is today France and Italy arriving in the area, as well as Catalan artists traveling elsewhere.