2. A Escola de Lisboa de Iluminura Hebraica 2. The Lisbon School

Hebrew illumination in Portugal
th
during the 15 century
Adelaide Miranda1
Aires A. Nascimento2
António Ramalho2
Catarina F. Barreira1
Catarina Tibúrcio1
Débora Matos3
1
João C. Oliveira4
José A. Ramos5
Luís C. Ribeiro1
Luís U. Afonso3
Maria A. Tavares4
Miguel M. Seixas1
Paula Cardoso1
Paulo F. Alberto2
Paulo M. Pinto4
Shalom Sabar6
Susana R. Bastos4
Tiago Moita3
IEM-FCSH; 2 CEC-FLUL; 3 ARTIS-FLUL; 4 CESAB- FLUL; 5 CHUL; 6 Hebrew University (Jerus.)
Jewish Book and Illumination in Late Medieval Portugal
Exhibition coordinators: Luís Urbano Afonso and Adelaide Miranda
2. A Escola de Lisboa de Iluminura Hebraica
2. The Lisbon School of Hebrew Illumination
Hebrew Bible. Copied in Moura, in 1470, by Samuel ben Abraham Altires. Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Can. Or. 42, ff. 127v-128r, 292v-293r.
A produção de manuscritos hebraicos em Portugal está documentada desde o final do século
XIII. Porém, mais de dois terços dos códices remanescentes foram realizados depois de
1450 e as primeiras obras iluminadas surgiram apenas na década de 1470.
As linguagens artísticas utilizadas nestes manuscritos dividem-se em duas correntes. A
primeira segue a tradição artística islâmica e é representada por um número muito limitado
de manuscritos. Carateriza-se pelo recurso a padrões cordiformes e motivos de entrelaçados,
faz escasso uso da cor e apresenta semelhanças com manuscritos andaluzes.
A segunda corrente corresponde à Escola de Lisboa de iluminura hebraica, da qual
subsistem cerca de 30 manuscritos, maioritariamente realizados na capital nas décadas de
1480 e 1490. Esta corrente filia-se na iluminura tardo-gótica e carateriza-se pelo uso
abundante do ouro e pelos motivos vegetalistas exuberantes e coloridos. Tem vários pontos
de ligação com a iluminura hebraica italiana e com a iluminura cristã portuguesa. Os seus
manuscritos identificam-se pelo recurso a dois tipos muito específicos de cercaduras
vegetalistas e pela decoração em filigrana púrpura combinada com letras douradas.
Left: Illuminated page from the second volume of the “Lisbon Bible” signaling the transition between the Book of Joel and the Book of Amos.
Copied in 1482, in Lisbon, by Samuel ibn Musa. London, British Library, MS Or. 2627, f. 252r.
Right: Illuminated page from an Hebrew Bible of the “Lisbon School”. This page with a double-frame opens the section of the Hagiographs
with the Book of Chronicles. Copied c.1490, most likely in Lisbon. Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, MS Hebreu 15, f. 374v.
Hebrew Bible from the “Lisbon School”. These pages with double-frames open the books of Exodus, Isaiah and Chronicles. Copied c.1490,
most likely in Lisbon. New York, Hispanic Society of America / Metropolitan Museum of New York, MS B 241, ff. 47v, 291r, 426r.
Siddur. Copied in Lisbon, in 1484, by Eleazar ben Moses Gagos. Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, MS Hébreu 592, ff. 33v, 331v-332r.
The production of Hebrew manuscripts in Portugal is documented since the late 13th
century. However, more than two-thirds of the remaining codices were made after 1450, and
the first illuminated books appeared only in the 1470’s.
The artistic languages used in these manuscripts are divided into two trends. The first
follows the Islamic artistic tradition and is represented by a very limited number of
manuscripts. It uses rope-like patterns and interlaced motifs, makes little use of colour, and
has similarities with Andalusian manuscripts.
The second corresponds to the Lisbon School of Hebrew illuminated manuscripts, of which
there are still around 30 manuscripts, mostly produced in the 1480’s and 1490’s. This trend is
affiliated in late-Gothic illumination and it is characterised by an abundant use of gold and
by colourful vegetal motifs. It has several connections with Italian Hebrew illuminated
manuscripts and with Portuguese Christian illumination. These manuscripts are identified by
the use of two specific types of vegetal frames and by purple filigree decoration combined
with golden letters.