Arts

11 Dec 09

One of the exhibits in the Bodleian Library's winter exhibition.

This year’s winter exhibition at the Bodleian Library tells the story of how Jews, Christians and Muslims have all contributed to the development of the book as an object of great cultural importance.

The free exhibition, which runs from now until 3 May 2010, draws on the Bodleian’s Hebrew holdings, one of the largest and most important collections of Hebrew manuscripts in the world.

Covering a time span of 300 years between the thirteenth century and fifteenth century, the exhibition brings to light different aspects of Jewish life across medieval Europe and the Middle East, in cultures that were non-Jewish.

Piet van Boxel, Curator of Hebrew and Jewish Collections at the Bodleian Library, said: ‘As the exhibition title suggests, Crossing Borders recounts the history of medieval culture at the intersection between Jewish, Christian and Muslim communities. It is a largely unfamiliar story which needs to be told and can help us to understand better the relationship between these communities even in our contemporary times.’ 

The social and cultural interaction between Jews and non-Jews in both the Muslim and Christian world can be seen in the decorative patterns, writing styles, script types and text genres of the manuscripts themselves. As a result, Hebrew manuscripts produced in different regions look quite different, showing greater similarities to the non-Hebrew books produced in the same region than to other Hebrew books.  

As this exhibition shows, by importing elements of the host culture, Hebrew manuscripts are proof of coexistence and cultural affinity, as well as practical cooperation, between Jews and their non-Jewish neighbours, challenging received ideas about the treatment of Jews in the Middle Ages.

Highlights of the exhibition include the Kennicott Bible, believed to be the most beautiful and extensively illustrated manuscript among Spanish Bibles of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The illuminations reveal cross-cultural influences from Spanish Bible illustrations and popular European art to Islamic non-figurative carpet and vegetal decorations. The most striking illuminations will be shown through interactive digital technology, where visitors to the exhibition can  ‘turn the pages’ of this extraordinary treasure.

Visitors can also see a manuscript in the hand of the great Jewish philosopher Maimonides (1135–1204) – a  draft of his legal code Mishneh Torah, as well as The Michael Mahzor: the earliest illuminated Jewish prayer book for the Festivals, produced in Germany in 1258. The prayer book was illuminated by a Christian, who, not familiar with the Hebrew script, painted the first illustration upside down.

There will also be on display the largest fragment of uninterrupted text of the book of Ben Sira (Ecclesiasticus) in Hebrew, found at the Genizah of the synagogue in Fustat (Old Cairo). Dating from the 10th century, it is one of the earliest examples of a Hebrew codex. 

The exhibition will be held in the Exhibition Room at the Bodleian Library from 9.00 am – 5.00 pm (Mon – Fri); 9.00 am – 4.30 pm (Sat) and 11.00am – 5.00pm (Sun).