KENNICOT BIBLE (facsimile)

The Kennicott Bible, displayed here, is a facsimile of a 15th century Spanish Sephardic Jewish Bible. It was originally executed in 1476 in northwestern Spain by the scribe Moses Ibn Zabara. It was elaborately illustrated with 238 of its 922 pages illuminated with gold and silver, 24 canonical book headings, 49 other headings with gold zoomorphic figures, 9 illuminated carpet pages and 150 psalm headings numbered and illuminated with gold and silver. The ambitious artist was Joseph Ibn Hayyim (Joseph Ben-Chayijm) who included a wonderfully entertaining anthropomorphic colophon. The figures and decoration throughout are incredibly contemporary looking for today’s audience and exhibit a number of cross-cultural influences from European Bible cycles to Islamic vegetal and tile decorations.

Printable version