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Course: Europe 1300 - 1800 > Unit 2
Lesson 5: Spain, the Late GothicThe Prato Haggadah
The Prato Haggadah (Spain), c. 1300 with later additions, 85 leaves, tempera, gold, and ink on parchment, 21 x 14.9 cm (The Library of The Jewish Theological Seminary). A conversation with Dr. Ariel Fein and Dr. Steven Zucker. Created by Smarthistory.
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Video transcript
(light jazz piano music) - [Speaker 1] We're in the cloisters, part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, looking at a rare manuscript. This is the "Prato Haggadah." It dates to about 1300, and
what's especially fascinating about it is that it was never finished, and that gives us a lens onto the process of medieval bookmaking. - [Speaker 2] This is a
Haggadah, which is used on the Jewish holiday of Passover. Every year, Jews around the world commemorate the ancient Israelites' Exodus from Egypt, their
journey from slavery to freedom, at a ritual
meal called a Seder. - [Speaker 1] And at that meal, this book is used to guide the family through the story and
through the blessings. - [Speaker 2] Illuminated
Haggadot began to be produced in the 14th century. - [Speaker 1] And this particular version is among the highest quality. The artist who laid down the initial lines that would eventually
be painted and gilded had extraordinary skill. - [Speaker 2] If we flip through the pages of this manuscript, we see
pages at varying levels of completion. The folio that we're looking at only has a preparatory drawing, so this is the very first stage. Others are nearly complete, while others are somewhere in between. - [Speaker 1] We're so lucky that today the curators have opened this book to one of the last pages, which
depicts the flood of Noah. But here there is no gilding. There is no color that has been added. What we see only is the
ink of the original artist. The book itself is quite small, and then the drawing is even smaller. We see a double ruled frame
and then a double scene. At the top we see the ark of Noah, but it doesn't look like a boat. - [Speaker 2] This ark actually
looks like medieval caskets. We see the lock, we see
the individual panels of this casket and the nails. This kind of casket would
have been used to hold jewelry or other precious objects. - [Speaker 1] But here it
doesn't hold gold and gems. It holds the pairs of animals as well as Noah and his family, each neatly compartmentalized. - [Speaker 2] That order is in
contrast to the chaos below. We see the buildings that
have been toppled over by the deluge, by the flood. - [Speaker 1] We see towers
that have been toppled and all of this is under the waves. And then there's one more
element in the upper left corner. - [Speaker 2] We see the dove
that has returned to the ark with an olive branch alerting
Noah that the flood is over. God's promise to Noah to begin anew. - [Speaker 1] There's a
second bird just to the left of the dove. This is the raven that
Noah had sent out first, but a bird that did not return to the ark, and is seen here still eating its prey. - [Speaker 2] Unfortunately,
we don't know anything about the history of this manuscript prior to the early 20th century. This Haggadah does not have a
colophon or a signature page, so we don't know the name
of the scribe or the patron. It is very similar to
other Haggadot produced around the early 14th century in Spain. Produced for the Sephardic
Jewish communities, it was customary to include
images from the Bible. These stories from the
creation to the story of Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt would've served as a preface
for the story to come in the Haggadah. - [Speaker 1] We're looking
at a very precious object. One that was not only costly
in terms of its materials but extremely labor
intensive, and it would've taken a number of calves
in order to produce this. - [Speaker 2] In a Hebrew manuscript, the scribe would have been responsible for laying out the text and the images because they would've been familiar with the Hebrew text itself. - [Speaker 1] And so
there's an opportunity then to create a relationship
between what is being depicted and what is actually
being stated in the text. Because this manuscript is not complete, it is actually a revelation
to us in the modern era. - [Speaker 2] It was clearly
deemed to be precious enough to be preserved and we are
so fortunate that it was. (light jazzy music)