The Iberian Hebrew Bible: Rabbinic Writings and Ornamental Carpet Pages

Abstract

The Jewish Middle Ages have produced little in the way of writing on aesthetics, and what exists was largely generated by rabbis issuing opinions on legal matters concerning art objects. When rabbis wrote about Torah and its study, however, their writing became visually charged, especially in Iberia and regions within the Sephardic orbit, where rabbinic writing was steeped in the visual culture of an Islamicate world in which Jews were robust participants, even after the majority of them moved to the Christian kingdoms of northern Iberia. This article argues that the geometric designs present in decorative carpet pages in some Iberian Hebrew Bibles are paralleled by the metaphorical and visually sensitive writing produced about Torah and its study. These complex and arresting carpet-page designs perform a number of functions: they beautify the codices, aid in the performance of Torah (and, by extension, the performance of patronage), and mirror the ideation present in this writing, thereby reinforcing it.