Sephardic Book Art of the 15th century
Lisbon, Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal, 25-27 February 2015

Sephardic decorated manuscripts of the 15th century have traditionally received less attention from art historians and codicologists than manuscripts from previous periods.
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.


PROGRAMME

Wednesday, 25th of February 2015

09h00 – Reception
09h30 – Opening ceremony

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 Universitaire d'Etudes Juives Elie Wiesel · IRHT)
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

13h00 – Lunch

14h00 – 15h30
Philippe Bobichon (CNRS - IRHT)
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)


Thursday, 26th of February 2015

09h15 – 10h45
Maria Portmann (Institut für Kunstgeschichte, LMU München)
Identity and Otherness in Sephardic Book Art

Aron Sterk (Chester University)
Joseph Ibn Yahya and his book in the late 15th c. Saint Vincent Panels

11h00 – 12h30
Maria Ortega Monasterio (Instituto de Lenguas y Culturas del Mediterráneo y Oriente Próximo)
Some Sephardi Bibles from the Fifteenth Century in the Bodleian Library

Javier del Barco (Instituto de Lenguas y Culturas del Mediterráneo y Oriente Próximo)
The Biblia Rabbinica Predecessors: Hebrew Glossed Bibles in the Fifteenth Century

13h00 – Lunch

14h00 – 15h30
Aléxia Teles Duchowny (Federal University of Minas Gerais)
Sephardic paleography of the fifteenth century

Débora Marques de Matos (Kings College London)
Redefining Borders: Mobility Of Scribes In Late Fifteenth Century Sepharad

16h00 – 17h30
Cristina Ciucu (Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales · IRHT)
Sephardic Kabbalah Manuscripts (XIVth and XVth centuries): Codicology, Palaeography, Page Layout, Graphic Representations, Circulation and History

Ilana Tahan (Curator of Hebrew and Christian Orient Studies, British Library)
The provenance of the Hebrew manuscripts from Portugal held in the British Library collection

17h30 – Exhibition opening


Friday, 27th of February 2015

09h15 – 10h45
Tali Winkler (University of Chicago)
The Free Library Bible: The Life of a 15th-century Iberian Manuscript

Yitzchak Schwartz (Yeshiva University)
The Lisbon Workshop’s Hispanic Society Bible: Jewish Art and identity on the Cusp of Modernity 

11h00 – 12h30
Andreina Contessa (Museum of Italian Jewish Art Jerusalem)
Wandering books: the migration of 15th century Sephardic manuscripts and their 'new life' outside Iberia

Luís U. Afonso (ARTIS, Faculdade de Letras, University of Lisbon)
Jewish networks, books and early protoglobalisation: investigating the route of BNF Hebr. 1314-1315

13h00 – Lunch

14h00 – 15h30
Adelaide Miranda, Catarina F. Barreira, Paula Cardoso (IEM, Nova University of Lisbon)
Dialogues between Christians and Jews. Illumination in Portugal during the 15th century

Shalom Sabar (Hebrew University of Jerusalem)
Typography, Layout and Decoration: Between the Printed Book and Illuminated Mss. in the Iberian Peninsula

16h00 – Closing ceremony