Liturgy · R' Yoel ben Shimon (Joel ben Simeon, scribe-illuminator) · 15th c. · Florence · Codex · Illuminated · Italian Rite · Mahzor · Renaissance · Foundational

מחזור רוטשילד — מהמחזורים המאוירים היפים ביותר

The Rothschild Mahzor — one of the most lavishly illuminated Hebrew manuscripts ever produced

Florence, 1490 (5250) · The Library of The Jewish Theological Seminary

The Rothschild Mahzor — a Hebrew prayer book for the entire cycle of the Italian-rite year, scribed in Florence in 1490 by R' Yoel ben Shimon (Joel ben Simeon), the celebrated 15th-century Ashkenazi-Italian scribe-illuminator, and adorned by some of the finest workshop hands of the Italian Renaissance. Across nearly 950 pages the codex carries painted miniatures, foliate borders in gold and lapis, micrographic compositions in the hand of the scribe himself, and a degree of decorative ambition almost unique in Hebrew manuscript culture — among the most beautiful Jewish books ever produced. The Mahzor takes its modern name from the Rothschild family of Frankfurt, who acquired it in the 19th century. It was looted during the Nazi years and identified after the war by JTS librarian Alexander Marx, who arranged its return; Baron Edmond de Rothschild later donated the volume to The Library of The Jewish Theological Seminary in 1966, in the aftermath of the JTS library fire. A downloadable PDF facsimile is also available.