A priceless Jewish holy book dating back more than half a millennium is to go on display in New York after being preserved by British experts.
It connects the Jews of this generation to their ancestors...
The 14th century Haggadah, which means “retelling”, will be hand-delivered to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, where it will go on show later this month. The masterpiece from Catalonian Spain, believed to be up to 700 years old, is described as one of the rarest types of its kind in the world according to experts at The University of Manchester’s John Rylands Library, where the book was preserved by specialists.
Jewish households use Haggadah as a prayer-book each Passover, to celebrate and tell the story of the flight of the children of Israel from Egypt. Comprising 57 lavishly decorated vellum leaves, the treasure will be flown to the US accompanied by Rylands’ conservator Steve Mooney.
James Ludovic Lindsay, 26th Earl of Crawford, sold the Haggadah to Enriqueta Rylands in 1901, as part of the world famous Crawford collection of manuscripts.
Rylands collections and research support manager John Hodgson said: “This manuscript is one of the finest Haggadot in the world.
“It is important for its intrinsic beauty and for various textual details, but it is also a key source for the study of the illumination of Hebrew manuscripts in general.
“It shines a light on the tradition of Biblical illustration among the Jews of the Middle Ages and on the cross-fertilisation between Jewish and non-Jewish artists withinthe medium of manuscript illumination.
“The Rylands Haggadah is among the top 10 individual items of greatest significance within the JRUL’s Special Collections, in terms of its research, cultural, heritage and financial value.”
Conservator Steve Mooney spent eight months securing the areas of pigment and gold leaf which had started to crack and flake. To maintain the high level of concentration needed, Mr Mooney could work on the manuscript for only two to three hours a day, viewing the damaged areas under a microscope.
He said: “This has been a fascinating job – and I got a real sense of achievement when I’d finished.”“But it was a bit nerve-wracking: one slip of the hand and you could remove a fragment of gold leaf or pigment by mistake.
Yaakov Wise from the University of Manchester’s Centre for Jewish Studies, said: “The Haggadah is one of the central texts of Rabbinic Judaism. Its use on the first nights of Passover by Jews all over the world from Alaska to Zimbabwe continues a tradition over 3,000 years old.
“It connects the Jews of this generation to their ancestors who left slavery in Egypt for a life of freedom in their own country and is the story of the first national liberation movement in history.”
The Rylands Haggadah: Mediaeval Jewish Art in Context opens on March 27 and will remain on view until September 30 at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.