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“BCN Haggadahs. History, narrative and artistic legacy” in the MUHBA Plaça del Rei

On the 24th and 25th of March these Hebrew literary texts will be examined in relation to their historical context, their ritual significance, the Biblical episodes they describe and the pictorial style used in the illustrations they contain

The 24th and 25th of March will see the inauguration of a series of sessions entitled BCN Haggadahs. History, narrative and artistic legacy, in the MUHBA Plaça del Rei. The Haggadahs are Jewish texts that are notable above all for the number of copies that survive today and for the quality of the miniature illustrations they contain. In addition, in the case of Catalonia, over the years they have become one of the most valuable testimonies to Catalan Jewish legacy.

The 14th century was a period of splendour for both Gothic art and Jewish literary enlightenment, an example of the latter being the Haggadahs – Jewish texts which offer us an insight into the cultural activity in Barcelona’s Jewish Quarter, the most important Jewish community in the city and the Catalan-Aragonese kingdom of the period, and with strong ties to the kingdoms of the Mediterranean, Provence and Northern Europe.

The sessions, then, are designed to offer an insight into the Haggadahs in relation to their historical context, their ritual significance, the Biblical episodes they describe and the pictorial styles and techniques used in the figurative illustrations they contain, among many other aspects. An added peculiarity in the case of Barcelona is that the relationship between the Jews and the Christians at the time eventually contributed to the creation of shared images and icons.

The scientific coordination of the exhibition BCN Haggadahs. History, narrative and artistic legacy is the work of Ana Bejarano, Josep Lluís Carod-Rovira and Manuel Forcano. Reservations for the sessions are required and may be made by telephone (93 256 21 22) or by email (reservasmuhba@bcn.cat).
 

BCN Haggadahs. History, narrative and artistic legacy

When: the 24th and the 25th of March

Tickets: 22,50 €

Where: MUHBA Plaça del Rei

More information here

Publication date: Tuesday, 17 March 2015
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