Israel Museum to Display Rare 15th Century Illuminated "Mishneh Torah" by Maimonides

Written by Jocelyn London Friday, 11 November 2011 22:17

Jerusalem – The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, announced today the long-term loan of an extraordinary 15th-century illuminated manuscript, a handwritten copy of the Mishneh Torahby Maimonides, considered by many to be the greatest rabbinical figure in Medieval Spain. On extended loan from Judy and Michael Steinhardt, New York, the manuscript has undergone full restoration in the Israel Museum's Paper Conservation Laboratory and will be presented in the reinstalled galleries of its new Jack, Joseph, and Morton Mandel Wing for Jewish Art and Life, in conjunction with the opening of the Museum's renewed campus on July 26, 2010.

Created in Italy in ca.1457-1460, this beautifully illustrated Hebrew text includes the final eight books of the

Mishneh Torah, the monumental and first systematic codification of Jewish law. The manuscript features six large painted panels decorated in precious pigments and gold leaf, as well as forty-one smaller illustrations with gold lettering adorning the opening words of each chapter. These detailed illustrations, executed in the style of Northern Italian Renaissance miniature painting, along with the manuscript’s elegant script, make it one of the finest extant illuminated copies of this important compendium and of Maimonides’ works in general. The first volume of this work, comprising its initial chapters, is in the Rossi Collection of the Vatican Library in Rome and was displayed at the Israel Museum in 2005, on special loan in honor of the Museum's 40th anniversary.

"The Mishneh Torah adds importantly to our extensive collection of illuminated Hebrew manuscripts and greatly enhances the display of unique items presented in the renewed galleries of our new Jewish Art and Life Wing, with its emphasis on the richness of sacred and secular life among the world’s Jewish communities," said James S. Snyder, Anne and Jerome Fisher Director of the Israel Museum. "We are deeply grateful to Judy and Michael Steinhardt for their ongoing and exemplary commitment to the Museum and for the unprecedented opportunity to present this rare treasure to our public."

Michael Steinhardt stated, "We are pleased to be able to share this extraordinary Hebrew Renaissance manuscript, which relates both to Jewish literary heritage and to the highest achievements of manuscript illumination in its time, and to enrich the Israel Museum's presentation of Jewish Art and Life – perhaps the most comprehensive in the world – with this extended loan."

The Mishneh Torah, a systematic compendium of Jewish laws (halakha) and precepts, has been a primary source for the study of halakhic subjects for centuries. One of very few works by Maimonides (Rabbi Moses ben Maimon, ca. 1135-1204) originally written in Hebrew – most of his works were in Arabic – the text was completed around 1180 and is divided into fourteen books. The Museum's volume contains Books 7–14, relating to topics such as agricultural regulations, Temple service, civil and property law, purity, and justice. This volume is also of particular interest to scholars because it includes previously unknown versions of  legal responsa and glosses (rabbinic decisions, traditions, and interpretations). The names of the scribe, Nehemia, and of the first owner who commissioned the work, Moses Anav son of I(saac?), are found in an inscription at the end of the volume.

The two volumes of the Mishneh Torah became separated between 1838 and 1854, when the first part was purchased by a non-Jewish collector, whose manuscript holdings were later acquired by the Vatican Library. The second volume reached Germany as part of the collection of Avraham Merzbacher of Munich and was later presented to the Frankfurt Municipal Library. In 1950, a Frankfurt family acquired the manuscript, along with seven others, in exchange for property that the city wished to acquire for municipal development. It remained in the family until its 2007 purchase by Judy and Michael Steinhardt, New York, who entrusted it to the Israel Museum for restoration and long-term loan for display.

The Israel Museum, Jerusalem

The Israel Museum is the largest cultural institution in the State of Israel and is ranked among the leading art and archaeology museums in the world. Founded in 1965, the Museum houses encyclopedic collections ranging from prehistory through contemporary art. They include the most extensive holdings of Biblical and Holy Land archaeology in the world, among them the Dead Sea Scrolls. In just over forty years, the Museum has built a far-ranging collection of nearly 500,000 objects through an unparalleled legacy of gifts and support from its circle of patrons worldwide. It has established itself as an internationally valued institution and a singularly rich cultural resource for Israel, the Middle East, and the world.

The Museum is nearing completion of a $100-million campus enhancement project, designed by James Carpenter Design Associates and Efrat-Kowalsky Architects to transform and unify the facilities on its landmark 20-acre campus. The Museum has continued operations throughout the duration of the project, which will be completed on July 26, 2010. Visit The Israel Museum at : www.english.imjnet.org.il/htmls/home.aspx