Select manuscript from this collection: B26  B217 B235  S102  20/107

Country of Location:
Country of Location
Switzerland
Location:
Location
Zürich
Library / Collection:
Library / Collection
Braginsky Collection
Shelfmark:
Shelfmark
B222
Manuscript Title:
Manuscript Title
Tehillim (Psalms)
Caption:
Caption
Parchment · 129 ff. · 12 x 8.1 cm · [Vienna/Amsterdam?] copied and decorated by Moses Judah Leib ben Wolf Broda of Trebitsch · 1723
Language:
Language
Hebrew
Manuscript Summary:
Manuscript Summary
The psalms in this manuscript are subdivided according to the days of the week on which they are to be read and, with exception of the psalms for Friday, these daily sections have decorated monochrome or multicolored initial word panels. The manuscript has an architectural title page representing Moses and Aaron standing in arches. Particularly impressive is the picture at the beginning of the first Psalm where, following the initial word ashre, on folio 6v is a depiction of King David sitting outside on the terrace of a palace, playing the harp while looking at an open volume, which most probably represents his psalms. This Braginsky manuscript has been copied and decorated by Moses Judah Leib ben Wolf Broda of Trebitsch, who is also responsible for perhaps the most famous decorated Hebrew manuscript of the eighteenth century – the Von Geldern Haggadah of 1723. Including this Braginsky psalter, a total of seven manuscripts by Moses Judah Leib are known, produced between 1713-1723. The brown mottled calf binding carries the emblem of the De Pinto family of Amsterdam tooled in gold on both the front and the back covers. (red)
DOI (Digital Object Identifier):
DOI (Digital Object Identifier
10.5076/e-codices-bc-b-0222 (http://dx.doi.org/10.5076/e-codices-bc-b-0222)
Permanent link:
Permanent link
https://e-codices.ch/en/list/one/bc/b-0222
IIIF Manifest URL:
IIIF Manifest URL
IIIF Drag-n-drop https://e-codices.ch/metadata/iiif/bc-b-0222/manifest.json
How to quote:
How to quote
Zürich, Braginsky Collection, B222: Tehillim (Psalms) (https://e-codices.ch/en/list/one/bc/b-0222).
Online Since:
Online Since
10/13/2016
External resources:
External resources
Rights:
Rights
Images:
(Concerning all other rights see each manuscript description and our Terms of use)
Document Type:
Document Type
Manuscript
Century:
Century
18th century
Dated:
Dated
1723
Decoration:
Decoration
Figurative, Full Page, Fully Painted, Initial, Ornamental, Penwork, Text Block
Liturgica christiana:
Liturgica christiana
Psalter
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e-codices · 09/21/2016, 15:19:23

Although Moses Judah Leib ben Wolf Broda is the artist responsible for perhaps the most famous decorated Hebrew manuscript of the eighteenth century – the Von Geldern Haggadah of 1723, which may have been a source of inspiration for the Haggadah described in Heinrich Heine’s Der Rabbi von Bacherach – hardly anything is known about his life. He was born in the Moravian town of Trebitsch (now Trebic, Czech Republic), where the first scribe of the eighteenth-century school, Aryeh ben Judah Leib, originated as well. Including the Braginksy psalter a total of seven manuscripts by Moses Judah Leib are known, produced between 1713 and 1723.
The manuscript has an architectural title page with Moses and Aaron standing in arches. The psalms are subdivided according to the days of the week on which they are to be read and, with the exception of the psalms for Friday, these daily sections have decorated monochrome or multicolored initial word panels. Following the first word of Psalms 1, ashre, on folio 6r, is a depiction of King David sitting outside on the terrace of a palace. He plays the harp while looking at an open volume, possibly his psalms. Moses Judah Leib was perhaps the most accomplished painter among his contemporaries. Two of his most famous Haggadot, the Second Cincinnati Haggadah (Cincinnati, Klau Library, Hebrew Union College, MS 444,1) and the Von Geldern Haggadah (private collection), contain full-page seder scenes that stand out as highlights of eighteenth-century Jewish pictorial art.
The binding of the manuscript has the emblem of the De Pinto family of Amsterdam tooled in gold on the front and back covers. The De Pinto family fled Antwerp for Rotterdam in 1646, to return to Judaism officially and to profit from Holland’s international trade network. In the catalogue of the auction at which this manuscript was acquired for the Braginsky Collection, mention is made of a De Pinto family legend in which the artist was invited to Amsterdam to come and write the psalms for the family. This may indicate that one of the most accomplished eighteenth-century scribe-artists attracted an international clientele.

A Journey through Jewish Worlds. Highlights from the Braginsky collection of Hebrew manuscripts and printed books, hrsg. E. M. Cohen, S. L. Mintz, E. G. L. Schrijver, Amsterdam, 2009, p. 114.

e-codices · 09/21/2016, 15:15:19

Obwohl Moses Juda Leib die wohl berühmteste illustrierte hebräische Handschrift des 18. Jahrhunderts geschaffen hat, nämlich die Von Geldern Haggadah von 1723, die Heinrich Heine als Inspirationsquelle für die Haggada in seinem Romanfragment Der Rabbi von Bacherach von 1840 gedient haben soll, ist über das Leben dieses Meisters nur wenig bekannt. Er wurde in der Stadt Trebitsch (Tˇrebíˇc) geboren, wo eine der grössten Synagogengemeinden Mährens mit einem bedeutenden Rabbinat bestand. Aus Trebitsch stammte auch Arje ben Juda Leib, der als erster die typischen, an den Vorbildern der Amsterdamer hebräischen Drucke orientierten Luxushandschriften herstellte. Diese Psalmenhandschrift der Braginsky Collection eingeschlossen, sind sieben Manuskripte von Moses Juda Leib bekannt. Eine davon ist undatiert, die anderen entstanden zwischen 1713 und 1723.
Die Titelseite zeigt die beliebte Darstellung von Moses und Aaron in einer portalähnlichen Bogenarchitektur. Die Tehillim («Psalmen») sind nach den Wochentagen ihrer Lesung angeordnet und – mit Ausnahme der Psalmen für die Freitage – jeweils mit einem Initialwort in einem monochromen oder vielfarbigen Zierrahmen versehen. Besonders eindrucksvoll ist das Bild zu Beginn des ersten Psalms. Unter dem Initialwort aschre («glücklich ist») erscheint König David, der auf der Terrasse seines Palastes vor einer altarähnlichen Architektur mit Draperie sitzt und Harfe spielt, neben ihm ein aufgeschlagenes Buch, das wohl den Psalter repräsentieren soll. Ähnlich wie in Moses Juda Leibs beiden Hauptwerken, der Second Cincinnati Haggadah (Klau Library des Hebrew Union College 244in Cincinnati) und der Von Geldern Haggadah (The Frank Family, Lexington), stechen hier vor allem die malerischen Fähigkeiten des Künstlers hervor.
Der Einband trägt auf der Vorder- und Rückseite das Emblem der Amsterdamer Familie De Pinto, die 1646 von Antwerpen nach Rotterdam geflohen war, dort offiziell zum Judentum zurückkehrte und bald eine bedeutende Stellung im internationalen Handel Hollands einnahm. Nach einer in der De Pinto-Familie tradierten Legende soll Moses Juda Leib einer Einladung nach Amsterdam gefolgt sein, um dort diese Psalmenhandschrift anzufertigen – wohl ein Beleg für die internationale Reputation dieses aussergewöhnlichen Künstlers.

Schöne Seiten. Jüdische Schriftkultur aus der Braginsky Collection, Hrsg. von Emile Schrijver und Falk Wiesemann, Zürich 2011, S. 244.

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A Journey through Jewish Worlds. Highlights from the Braginsky collection of Hebrew manuscripts and printed books, hrsg. E. M. Cohen, S. L. Mintz, E. G. L. Schrijver, Amsterdam, 2009, p. 114-115.

Schöne Seiten. Jüdische Schriftkultur aus der Braginsky Collection, Hrsg. von Emile Schrijver und Falk Wiesemann, Zürich 2011, S. 244-255.

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