Obj. ID: 1236
Hebrew Illuminated Manuscripts Vienna New Year Mahzor, Upper Rhein, 1344-47
The Vienna New Year Mahzor is the first part of a two volume mahzor of the Western Ashkenazi rite. The second part, which includes Day of Atonement prayers, is now housed in Jerusalem and is known as the Moskowitz Rhein Mahzor (Jerusalem, JNUL, Heb. 8° 5214, in 3 vols. see: documentation in Index of Jewish Art, Ms.1995.43). Both parts are identical in size, script and decoration program and it seems that they were originally divided into at least two volumes, since they together comprise about 1020 folios. Both parts do not include a colophon, but the original scribe (Scribe A) emphasized the name Moshe(משה) in both of them (Vienna, fol. 222v, the name "Moshe" emphasized with red and black dots above the name; Jerusalem, vol. I, fol. 72, a dotted scroll extending from the letter "mem" מ'). Schwartz thinks (no. 91) this is the patron’s name (although he does not explain his assumption), however it may well be the scribe’s name since in the majority of manuscripts the scribe’s name is emphasized (M. Beit-Arié, "How Scribes Disclosed their Names by Means of their Copied Text", in Me'ah She'arim: Studies in Medieval Jewish Spiritual Life in Memory of Isadore Twersky. ed. Ezra Fleischer, Gerald Blidstein, Carmi Horowitz, Bernard Septimus, The Hebrew University Magnes Press, Jerusalem 2001, p. 119. [in Hebrew]).
Sed-Rajna (Sed-Rajna, G., "Filigree Ornaments," 1986/87) claims that the scribe of this mahzor might be the same as of the Cambridge Hagiographa, signed by the scribe Hayyim in 1347 (England, Cambridge, University Library, Ms Ee 5.9) and that of the Vienna SeMaG Strasbourg, 1344, (Austria, Vienna, ÖBN, Cod. Hebr. 34/I-II see Cat. …..). However, paleographic examination indicates that the script of these three manuscripts is not rendered by the same hand; we can only concur with Sed-Rajna's assumption that this manuscript might have been produced in the same workshop as the Vienna SeMaG and the Cambridge Hagiographa, but was copied by a different scribe, that we believe to be Moshe.
Besides the original scribe, Moshe (Scribe A), another scribe (Scribe B) at the end of the 14th century or at the first half of the 15th century, copied the first five quires of the manuscript, which includes the Preliminary Morning Prayers (fols. 2v-40v) and part of the Reading of the Torah for the first day (fol. 101-102). The same Scribe B copied many entire quires which also complete missing text in the second part of the mahzor, located in Jerusalem. Even though this second scribe kept some of the codicological features of Scribe A (ruling by plummet on both sides, same number of lines and same text space), his quires count 8 leaves, he used a different, thicker parchment than Scribe A, and his pricking is not discernable at all (in the Jerusalem mahzor it is discernable in very few leaves, see: vol. II fols. 260, 271, 328). Moreover, quires by Scribe B present no decoration at all, besides one painted initial word panel (see below). Scribe B did not interfere with text copied by Scribe A.
Uncompleted or missing piyyutim on fols. 45, 78v-79, 134v-135, 144v were completed or copied later by another hand (Hand 1) in smaller square and in semi-cursive (of "Gothic" type) script in the outer margins. It is interesting to note that the added texts are all in the margins of a central bifolium of ten leaf quires. We assume that the missing text originally occupied 2 leaves in each quire, indicating that those quires originally included 12 leaves each, as do most of the quires of scribe A in this manuscript. It seems that those bifolia were lost not long after the copying of the main text. We assume that those additions were done prior to the decoration of the whole manuscript because the flourishes which extend into the margins cover some letters of the added text (see fols. 78v and 134v).
The main decoration of the manuscipt is concentrated mainly in the first half of the original part of the manuscript, the part of prayer for the first day of New Year. It was executed in one stage apparently by one main artist. While the later stage of the manuscript which was copied by Scribe B was not decorated, in a later period one initial word panel was added on fol. 2v.
The decoration of the original part is mainly for initial word panels filled with filigree scrolls, interspersed with medallions encircling various motives such as human and animals' heads, hybrids, grotesques, floral and foliate motifs executed in spared-ground technique. Flourishes with tendrils extend from the panels, often framing the text and reaching the upper and lower margins, where flying and perched birds are sometimes located. It is interesting to note that the Jerusalempart of the mahzor is more elaborate in its decoration program, and it includes a larger and more sophisticated range of zoomorphic, anthropomorphic and vegetal motifs. Moreover it includes a splendid full-page Gothic façade with praying angels illustrating the prayer (ברוך ..הפותח שערי רחמים)"Blessed is Thou…that opens the Gates of Mercy" recited in the Morning Service of the Day of Atonement (see: vol. I, fol. 83).
The filigree scrolls of the opening panel of the original manuscript (fol. 41) is somewhat of a schematized design and probably repainted later as a result of damage caused to the page. In fact, the style of this panel seems not to be the same as the other panels; the colours, composition and execution of the work are different. Similarly, the addition of the missing words "Melekh Elyon" in the outer margins of fol. 135, written by Hand 1, are decorated with red filigree scrolls, in a different tonality and a different style than that found in the other panels.
Stylistic similarity with our manuscript is to be found in the two manuscripts mentioned above, The Vienna SeMaG (Cat…..) and the Cambridge Hagiographa. As Sed-Rajna pointed out (Sed-Rajna, G., "Filigree Ornaments", 1986/87), these three manuscripts are related to the Latin Upper Rhine School of illumination of the first half of the 14th century. Ellen J. Beer, who identified this Latin School, proves that this style began at the end of the 13th century in north of France, and spread to the Upper Rhine, in the southwest of Germany until its decline at the first half of the 14th century (Beer, E. J., Öberrheinischen Buchmalerei, 1959). Out of the eight groups of this School that Beer identified, Sed- Rajna relates the three Hebrew manuscripts to the groups produced in Basel after 1330 (group 5) and Freiburg after 1340 (group 6). This assumption can be supported by the divorce formula in the The Vienna SeMaG (fol. 146v) with 1344 as date and Strasbourg as place and by the colophon in the Cambridge Hagiographa (fol. 555v) that mentions the year 1347 as the date of production of the manuscript by the scribe Hayyim. Thus we assume that the Vienna-Jerusalem mahzor was produced in theUpper Rhine between 1344 to 1347.
Another manuscript to be attributed to theUpperRhineSchoolis Cod. Hebr. 71 (Cat…..), whose style of decoration is less accurate than the other manuscripts of the School, and was probably executed under the influence of another manuscript, held today in a Private Collection in France.
The later initial word panel decorating the first folio copied by Scribe B (Vienna, fol. 2v) is dated to the 15th century. The initial word is filled with zoomorphic, anthropomorphic and foliate motifs in spared ground technique typical of illuminated Ashkenazi manuscripts since around 1300. These kind of letters can also be found in many manuscripts written and illuminated by Joel ben Simeon, the Jewish scribe and artist who worked in Ashkenaz as well as in north-central Italy in the second half of the 15th century. For instance, the hooded human face in the letter "vav" (ו') in our manuscript should be compared to human faces in some initial letters of works of Joel ben Simeon such as in the First Nuremberg Haggadah, produced in Germany shortly before 1449 (Israel Museum,Jerusalem, previously in Jerusalem, Schocken Library, ms. 24086, fols. 8, 11v, 24), as well as in The First New York Joel ben Simeon Haggadah, produced in Germany, middle of the 15th century (New York, The Jewish Theological Seminary, ms. 4481, fol. 1v) and in The Second New York Joel ben Simeon Haggadah, Italy, 1454 (New York, The Jewish Theological Seminary, ms. 8279, fol. 54v). In addition, the tassels that decorate each corner of the panel in our manuscript should be compared with the panel on fol. 21 in the First Nuremberg Haggadah.
The manuscript reached Italyas indicated by the censor Domenico Gerosolomitano's erasures and signature (fol. 379v). Gerosolomitano was censor in Italyin the end of the 16th century and the first twenty years of the 17th century. It stayed in Italy for several centuries as indicated by an 18th-19th Italian inscription on the upper margin of fol. 43 below the hunting scene (“la benola,” meaning weasel) as well as by the Italian inscription on the front flyleaf.
sub-set tree:
Text space: (113-115) x (78-79) mm
Width of each text column of the Torah Readings (fols. 100-107, 284-291v): 34 mm
Material: Vellum. I + 379 (fols. 1-40, 101-102 are later additions)+ I leaves. The original parchment is very thin and it is hard to distinguish between the flesh and hair sides. The parchment of the later additions is thicker and the differences between the two sides are clearly discernible.
Measurements:
Full page: (225-228) x (149-151) mm |
text space: (113-115) x (78-79) mm Width of each text column of the Torah Readings (fols. 100-107, 284-291v): 34 mm |
Scribes
Scribe A |
Original part |
fols. 41-100, 103-379v |
Scribe B |
Additions of missing parts |
fols. 1-40v, 101-102v |
Hand 1 |
Additions of missing piyyutim in the margins (see: Content) |
fols. 45, 78v-79, 134v-135, 144v |
Script Scribe A: Square Ashkenazi script of various sizes in dark brown ink; red rubrication for repeated words in some piyyutim (e.g. fols. 259-262) and for emphasized words within the prayers, especially for the additions to be read on Shabbat (e.g. fols. 68, 69, 73, 76, 88, 90v-91, 92, 93, 94v, 111v, 112v, 113, 115, 116v, 119v, 153, 154, 155, 166v, 229, 231, 235, 238, 358v, 359). Scribe B: square Ashkenazi script in dark brown ink of different tonality than that used by Scribe A. Hand 1: Additional piyyutim and prayers in the margins in small square script in light brown ink (e.g. fols. 78v-79, 134v-135) and in semi-cursive script in two different light brown inks (e.g. fols. 45, 144v). |
Number of lines
Main text |
12 lines per page in one column. Usually the first and last lines are longer and written in larger script. |
Torah readings (fols. 100-107, 284-291v) |
14 lines per column in two columns |
Ruling
Scribe A:
Ruling by plummet on both sides of the page, 13 horizontal and 2+2+2 vertical lines. Additional 1 + 1 vertical ruling along with the text space only for the arrangement of the main text included between the first and the last lines (e.g. fols. 43, 62). The two first and two last horizontal lines, as well as the 6th and 7th ones, are usually ruled across the full width of the page (e.g. fols. 212-213v, 218v-222). The Torah reading pages (fols. 100-107and 286-291) are ruled differently, with 3 + 15 + 4 horizontal lines and 2+2+2+2 vertical lines. The 3 and 4 horizontal lines in the margins were intended for the Masorah Magna, which was never written.
Scribe B:
Ruling by plummet on both sides of the page, 13 horizontal and 2+2+2 vertical lines. The 1st, the 7th, and the 13th lines are ruled across the full width of the page, e.g. fols. 26-30v.
Pricking
Pricking by quire on the recto is discernible in the upper, lower and inner margins, corresponding to the ruled lines (e.g. fols. 296-305) for scribes A's quires. The 2nd, the 7th and 12th lines are double pricked with two pricks side by side to indicate the full-width lines.
Pricking by Scribe B is not discernable at all (fols. 1-40, 101-102).
Quires
Scribe A: 30 quires of 12 leaves each in the original part, except for VI12-3 (fols. 41-49v; fol. 49 is a widow, stub visible between fols. 40v-41, but no text is missing, while the original central bifolio between fols. 44v-45 is missing, which included the text copied in the margins on fol. 45), IX12-2 (fols.74-83v, lost the middle bifolium between fols. 78v-79, missing text copied there in the margins), XII12-2 (fols. 108-117v – missing central bifolium between fols. 112v-113, text was not recopied), XIV12-2 (fols. 130-139v, lost the middle bifolium between fols. 134v-135, missing text copied there in the margins), XV12-2 (fols. 140-149v, lost middle bifolium between fols. 144v-145, missing text copied in the margins on fol. 144v), XVI14 (fols. 150-163v), XX4 (fols. 200-203v), XXI10-2 (fols. 204-211v; two folios between fols. 203v-204 have been cut out, as clearly indicated by the two cut remains, as well as a cut in the parchment on fol. 203. The cut folios contained part of prayer preceding the Yozer. The stub of the first cut out page carries tiny traces of red ink, while the second stub has visible traces of the first horizontal line ruled by plummet, indicating that they were originally part of the manuscript and one had decoration), XXVII10 (fols. 272-281v, no text is missing), XXXIII14 (fols. 342-355v).
At the end of the manuscript, one quire and text is missing.
Scribe B: 5 quires of 8 leaves each (quires I-V8). (Bifolio 101-102 is the central one of quire XI which consists of 12 leaves.)
Catchwords
Scribe A: 26 vertical or horizontal catchwords for the quires, written in the lower left-hand corners of the last versos. The presence of the catchword on the last verso of the manuscript indicates that at least one quire is missing.
Scribe B: None.
Hebrew numeration
None.
Blank leaves
Fols. 1, 1v, 2, 203v.
The decoration was made in two stages after the writing of the text. The first stage is the main one, and includes the decoration of the quires written by Scribe A (fols. 41-379). The second stage consists of only one miniature (fol. 2v), decorating the first page copied by Scribe B, and was clearly made by a different artist in a different style. On fol. 35v space was left for another initial word (ויושע) but was never completed: a different hand later added this missing word.
Stage A:
- Many pen-work initial words panels: of various sizes at the openings of the main passages of the prayer:
I. Two large rectangular initial word panels, occupying almost the whole text space, opening the Yozer for the Morning Service for the first and second days (fols. 44, 205). II. Many horizontal initial word panels of two, three or four lines height, occupying the width of the text space, opening many prayers and piyyutim (e.g. fols. 41, 42v, 43, 61v, 93v, 125v, 135v, 138v, 141), sometimes fused to vertical panels in the right side for the initial letters of each verse (e.g. fol. 362, see type III below). One of these panels is trapezoid-shaped (fol. 204), and one is a larger one occupying five text lines (fol. 69v). III. Vertical panels along the right side of the text for the initial letters of each strophe of the piyyutim, as rectangular continuous panels (e.g. fols. 44v-47v, 77v-78v, 131v-134v, 146v, 205v-212, 214-216, 362) or as a vertical sequence of diamonds for the two first letters of the second verse of each strophe and small square panels for the initials of each first verse arranged in the same column (e.g. fols. 147-149v, see: fol. 148). IV. Many smaller horizontal panels in the right part of the text, within the text space, enclosing opening words for new passages in the prayer (e.g. fols. 61v, 62, 66v, 67, 67v, 68, 71, 71v, 73v, 78v, 89, 89v-92v, 93v, 95, 97-98, 103-103v, 107v-111v, 114, 117v, 121,122-124, 126v-127, 128v-129, 130v-131, 137, 139, 140v, 142, 143-143v, 145-145v, 216v, 217, 218v, 220v, 221, 223, 223v), sometimes fused together to form a larger panel (e.g. fols. 78v, 107v).
Most of the panels are filled with red, blue, green and magenta (To check from the priginal!) pen-work filigree of delicate spiral scrolls, sometimes encircling palmettos, and sometimes divided in sections of different shapes (diagonal panels, triangles, diamonds) or colours. Types I-III are mostly interspersed with medallions encircling dragons (e.g. fols. 43, 44, 125v, 134v, 135v, 147, 148), two-legged hybrids (e.g. fols. 41, 43, 44, 44v, 45, 46, 47v, 61v, 74, 77-78v, 82, 94, 100, 109, 125v, 131v, 134v, 135v, 148, 204-204v, 205-211v), human faces (e.g. fols. 42v, 45v, 52, 54, 131), grotesques (e.g. fols. 52, 76v, 131, 211v), animals faces such as dogs (e.g. fols. 45v, 53, 54, 131, 215v), birds (e.g. fols. 46, 46v, 72, 100, 133v, 211v), eagles (e.g. fols. 42v, 215v), lambs (e.g. fols. 45v, 52), oxes (e.g. fols. 76v), cocks (e.g. fols. 53), one full dog (fol. 47), one full eagle with spread wings (fol. 135), one full lion (fol. 124v), lion mask motif (e.g. fols. 53, 54, 131, 135, 205, 211v), floral and foliate motifs (e.g. fols. 41v, 43, 43v, 46, 52, 61v, 64v, 72, 109, 128, 132, 134, 216), among them fleur de lys (e.g. fols. 206v-207) executed in spared-ground technique on a blue, red and green ground. The highlights of these images are sometimes emphasized in light brown, green or yellow colours (e.g. fols. 125v, 131v, 135v). All the types are mostly framed by a blue, red or green border, and sometimes surrounded by a continuous bow-shaped motif in alternating green, blue or red, (e.g. fol. 64), stylized trees and fringe-like motifs. Flourish motifs extend from the panels along either one or both sides of the text column, mostly stemming into the upper and lower margins. Colourful birds are perched or flying on the tendrils in the margins of some of types I-II (fols. 41, 43, 44).
- Three marginal drawings: one grotesque human head in red ink: illustrating the word "Man" (אדם) (fol. 137), one depiction of a quadruped, illustrating the marginal note "Goats" (ושערים)(fol. 155), and a hybrid in brown ink on fol. 271v.
- Graphic signs and emphasis of letters: by the scribe (see also Script), I. emphasizing lines, words and letters in red ink: criss-crosses (e.g. fols. 107, 249, 251, 284); a red circle above each letter (e.g. fols. 76, 81v, 99v, 135v, 168, 180, 196v-198, 243, 245, 250, 252v-255), vertical scrolls (e.g. fols. 216, 157, 158, 241-241v, 255v-256v, 257v, 311), three or four oblong dots (e.g. fols. 151-152, 233v, 234), flourishes (e.g. fols. 79, 107v, 252v-253). Also in the additions, for the added piyyutim in the margins on fols. 134v-135, 144v. II. Emphasis of words and initials of alphabetic piyyutim or of the name of the payyitan, written in larger script than the main text, rubricated (e.g. fols. 231v-233v) or in dark brown ink (e.g. fol. 125v); of the initials signaling the rhythm and the number of sounds to be blown on the shofar (fol. 372v). III. “S”-shaped signs at the ending of the rows, rubricated by the scribe, e.g. fols. 66, 107v, 147-149, 230, 231v-233v, 244v-245. IV. Decoration of descenders and ascenders of the letters final "nun" ן (e.g. fols. 99v, 199v, 230v), final "khaf" ך (fols. 81v), "lamed" ל (fol. 257v: a bird’s head), and "kuf" ק (e.g. fol. 250v).
- D. Two decorated catchwords: with a bull's head (fol. 235v) and small circles (e.g. fols. 223v, 271v).
- Emphasis of name: Moshe (fol. 222v).
- Shaped texts: at the end of sections (e.g. fols. 43v, 68v, 125, 157v, 204v, 210, 230v); the text space is mainly structured with the first and the last line longer than the rest of the lines between them.
Stage B:
One painted initial word panel: the display letters are filled with hunting scenes in spared ground technique (fol. 2v) on a powdered gold ground, now faded.