The Nuremberg Miscellany [Germanisches Nationalmuseum Nurnberg,
Bibliothek, 8 Degrees Hs. 7058 (Rl. 203)] is a unique work of
scribal art and illumination. Its costly parchment leaves are
richly adorned and illustrated with multicolour paint and powdered
gold. It was penned and illustrated in southern Germany - probably
Swabia - in 1589 and is signed by a certain Eliezer b. Mordechai
the Martyr. The Miscellany is a relatively thin manuscript. In its
present state, it holds a total of 46 folios, 44 of which are part
of the original codex and an additional bifolio that was attached
to it immediately or soon after its production. The book is a
compilation of various Hebrew texts, most of which pertain to
religious life. Others are home liturgies, Biblical exegeses,
comments on rites and customs, moralistic texts, homiletic and
ethical discourses, and an extensive collection of home liturgies,
its major part being dedicated to the life cycle. The unparalleled
text compilation of the Nuremberg Miscellany on the one hand, and
the naive, untrained illustrations on the other hand, are puzzling.
Its illustrations are hardly mindful of volume, depth or
perspective, and their folk-art nature suggests that an
unprofessional artist, possibly even the scribe himself, may have
executed them. Whoever the illustrator was, his vast knowledge of
Jewish lore unfolds layer after layer in a most intricate way. His
sharp eye for detail renders the images he executed a valid
representation of contemporary visual culture. The iconography of
the Nuremberg Miscellany, with its 55 decorated leaves, featuring
25 text illustrations, falls into two main categories: biblical
themes, and depictions of daily life, both sacred and mundane.
While the biblical illustrations rely largely on artistic rendering
and interpretation of texts, the depictions of daily life are
founded mainly on current furnishings and accoutrements in Jewish
homes. The customs and rituals portrayed in the miscellany attest
not only to the local Jewish Minhag, but also to the influence and
adaptation of local Germanic or Christian rites. They thus offer
first-hand insights to the interrelations between the Jews and
their neighbors. Examined as historical documents, the images in
the Nuremberg Miscellany are an invaluable resource for
reconstructing Jewish daily life in Ashkenaz in the early modern
period. In a period from which only scanty relics of Jewish
material culture have survived, retrieving the pictorial data from
images incorporated in literary sources is of vital importance in
providing the missing link. Corroborated by similar objects from
the host society and with descriptions in contemporary Jewish and
Christian written sources, the household objects, as well as the
ceremonial implements depicted in the manuscript can serve as
effective mirrors for the material culture of an affluent German
Jewish family in the Early Modern period. The complete Nuremberg
Miscellany is reproduced in the appendix of this book.
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