Date/Time
Date(s) - 25 Nov 2013
5:15 PM - 6:45 PM
Location
Class of 1978 Pavilion, Special Collections Center
Category(ies) No Categories
Monday, November 25, Workshop in the History of Material Texts.
Piet van Boxel, fellow at the Oriental Institute at Oxford University and current fellow at the Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies, will be speaking on “The Unicorn: Symbol of Power and Peace. A discussion of Ms. Can Or. 62 in the Bodleian Library (Oxford).”
5:15 in the Class of ’78 Pavilion, in the Kislak Center for Special Collections on the 6th floor of
Van Pelt-Dietrich Library.
Piet writes:
“On the basis of a comparable illuminating style it will be suggested that this Hebrew manuscript (a compilation of liturgical readings) was produced in the workshop of Taddeo Crivelli and Franco dei Russi, also responsible for the magnificent Bible of the Duke of Ferrara, Borso d’Este, which represents the zenith of Ferrarese miniature painting and one of the highpoints of Italian Renaissance manuscript illumination. Traces of a Christian interpretation are left behind by the artist in the manuscript. The image of the unicorn on the first page of the book of Genesis is the key for understanding the situation of the Jews in Ferrara in the second half of the 15th century, who were exposed to Christian dominance, but at the same time were offered the protection of the Duke.”
All are welcome. Those who do not hold University of Pennsylvania ID cards should bring another form of photo identification in order to enter the library building.