Art of the North French Miscellany

French Hebrew Medieval Manuscript in British Library Collection

Dec 10, 2007

The medieval art of the North French Miscellany, one of the British Library's most important Hebrew manuscripts, shows great skill and a fine sense of humour.

Who Wrote the Manuscript?

The manuscript's history is fascinationg, and there is considerable debate over who performed the original copying – the calligraphy is extremely good. Some researchers believe Benjamin the Scribe, a Jewish artist working in northeast France in about 1280, was the sole copyist and that he created the manuscript for his own personal use. The photograph Folio 306v shows his signature.

Benjamin must have been extremely wealthy, since the finest artists were employed and no expense spared. It seems inconceivable that a sole scribe could afford to create so sumptuous a volume. Many Jews of the time manufactured silk, sold cloth or made wine from their own vines, so perhaps Benjamin was a wealthy merchant. It is interesting that Benjamin, having indicated in his colophon that he was the sole scribe, allows us no insight as to who the patron, if there was one, could have been.

The Manuscript's Magnificent Artwork

A sense of humour is reflected throughout the manuscript, with almost all of its 1,494 pages illuminated (that is decorated with gold or silver) and illustrated with grotesques (peculiar characters), flowers, animals, fishes and birds in the style of the High Gothic period. The Miscellany shows the extremely high standards achieved by the creators of Ashkenazi Hebrew manuscripts at this time.

Folio 354v is magnificent. The page is divided into three columns, one of which is enclosed within a highly decorated border, populated by angels, winged animals and grotesques popular in gothic art of the period. Important words are enlarged to double line height and heavily underlined with gold embossments. In the third column a gilded heading emerges from the mouth of a fictitious animal. Folio 354v E provides close-up details of enlarged letters within the box.

Folio 521v depicts the Binding of Isaac (Genesis 22:9-12). Isaac sits on a raised altar of gold with his left leg and hand bound together. Abraham holds the knife aloft ready to strike but the angel restrains him, and points to the ram concealed in the bushes. The entire story is enclosed within a gilded medallion.

Folio 522r, the Tabernacle Implements, is also presented within a gold medallion. The Ark of Covenant is flanked by two cherubim. At the bottom of the picture is the Table of Shewbread. To the right is the jar of manna. This is a very rare depiction of the Tabernacle implements and so far as is known does not appear anywhere else in Ashkenazi manuscripts. It comes from the tradition of Spanish bibles.

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