This conference will focus on the cultural and artistic questions posed by Sephardic codices of the 15th century by gathering scholars who have studied or are studying these manuscripts. Moreover, issues related with the materiality of these manuscripts will also be discussed, including codicological and paleographic approaches, as well as the fate of these manuscripts after the forced conversion or expulsion of Sephardic Jews between 1492 and 1498, among other related topics. Invited speakers include Andreina Contessa, Javier del Barco, Katrin Kogman-Appel, Maria Teresa Ortega Monasterio, Sarit Shalev-Eyni, Shalom Sabar, Sonia Fellous.

Argument

Sephardic decorated manuscripts of the 15th century have traditionally received less attention from art historians and codicologists than manuscripts from previous periods. On the one hand, there is the idea that due to the oppression suffered by Sephardic Jews, especially in the second half of the 15th century, their cultural and artistic production was the result of a decline and therefore poorer and uninteresting. On the other hand, researchers are mainly concerned with the analysis of manuscripts that signal the emergence of the decorated Sephardic book during the first half of the 13th century, and with manuscripts where Sephardic narrative art appeared and developed, during the 14th century.Therefore, questions about cultural and artistic interaction have been mainly directed to these two centuries, exploring the idea of “convivencia” and studying the appropriation of Christian and Islamic artistic and iconographic motifs by Sephardic artists and patrons. Yet, there is a growing interest on 15th century manuscripts in recent scholarship. Studies published by researchers such as Katrin Kogman-Appel, David Stern or Andreina Contessa have highlighted the cultural and artistic relevance of these manuscripts, renewing earlier studies.

This conference will focus on the cultural and artistic questions posed by Sephardic codices of the 15th century by gathering scholars who have studied or are studying these manuscripts. Moreover, issues related with the materiality of these manuscripts will also be discussed, including codicological and paleographic approaches, as well as the fate of these manuscripts after the forced conversion or expulsion of Sephardic Jews between 1492 and 1498, among other related topics. Invited speakers include Andreina Contessa, Javier del Barco, Katrin Kogman-Appel, Maria Teresa Ortega Monasterio, Sarit Shalev-Eyni, Shalom Sabar, Sonia Fellous.

Program

Day 1: Wednesday, 25th of February 2015

09h30 Opening

10h00-10h45 

• Katrin Kogman-Appel · Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Calligraphy and Decoration in the Farhi Codex (Sassoon coll. Ms 368, Mallorca, 1366–83)

11h00-12h30 

• Sonia Fellous · Institut de Recherche et d'Histoire des Textes - CNRS, Illuminated Iberian Manuscripts: a mirror of identities
• Sarit Shalev-Eyni · Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Sephardic Book Art in Transition: The Biblical Codex and Mudejar Visual Culture

13:00 Lunch

14h00-15h30

• Philippe Bobichon · Institut de Recherche et d'Histoire des Textes - CNRS, Les manuscrits scientifiques séfarades du fonds hébreu de la Bibliothèque nationale, et leurs illustrations
• Helena Avelar · The Warburg Institute | Luís Ribeiro · IEM, Nova University of Lisbon, Jewish astrology and medicine in 15th century Portugal: evidences and documents

16h00-17h30

• Ilana Wartenberg · University College London, Islamic motifs in mathematical, astronomical and calendrical tables within 15th-century Hebrew Sephardic manuscripts
• Tiago Moita · ARTIS, Faculdade de Letras, University of Lisbon, Under the sign of Apollo and Aesculapius: The Hebrew manuscript at Reynolds Historical Library (Birmingham, Alabama)