Img. ID: 10624
Hebrew Illuminated Manuscripts  

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A tinted, rectangular panel beneath the text space encloses a scene of Abraham with his three wives and their children. They stand before three open tents set in a hilly landscape dotted with buildings. Before the tent at the center of the scene, Abraham stands with Sarah with the child Isaac between them. On the left, Hagar stands with the lad Ishmael. A water bottle is suspended in the air behind her back. She gestures towards Ishmael who holds a bow (?) in his hand. On the right, Keturah, who Abraham married after Sarah's death (Gen. 25:1), stands with her six sons, Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak and Shuah. A small square panel on the top right of the text encloses the initial letter "Resh," commencing the passage, רשע מה הוא אומר, "The wicked son - what does he say?" The letter, written in spared-ground technique, encloses the figure of a bearded man leading the lamb for the Paschal sacrifice. The wicked son follows behind him. Beneath, another square panel encloses the initial letter "Taf," commencing the passage, תם מה הוא אומר, "The simple son - what does he say?" The letter encloses the figure of a bearded man bisecting the body of a lamb which hangs upside down before him. Behind him a small boy (the simple son) stands gesturing. A curved, ornamental pediment ending in scrolls, which rests on two columns, surrounds the text.