The Haggadah in the Middle Ages and Beyond: A Celebration for Passover

In partnership with Les Enluminures gallery, Jewish studies is proud to host a colloquium highlighting the tradition of the Haggadah from the Middle Ages to today. This gathering of experts and enthusiasts is one of a series of events celebrating a remarkable medieval manuscript: a Haggadah with seventy-five watercolor paintings created in the circle of the famous artist Giovannino de Grassi (d. 1398) in Milan in the late 14th century. Telling the story of the flight of the Jews from Egypt based on the biblical book of Exodus, the Haggadah was—and still is—used during the Seder, the ritual meal of the first night of Passover. The program is as follows:

The Haggadah in the Middle Ages and Beyond: A Celebration for Passover
Co-sponsored by Jewish studies, Medieval studies, and the Department of Art History and Music of Fordham University and Les Enluminures

Session 1: Moderator: Sharon Liberman Mintz, Curator of Jewish Art, The Library of The Jewish Theological Seminary

Evelyn M. Cohen, Independent Scholar, New York
“The Patronage of Decorated Hebrew Manuscripts in Renaissance Italy”

Joshua Teplitsky, Stony Brook University, SUNY
“Collecting Medieval Manuscripts in Early Modern Europe”

BREAK

Session 2: Moderator: Sandra Hindman, Les Enluminures

Marc Michael Epstein, Vassar College
“Making Pictures Talk: Imagination, Narrative, and Politics in the Images of the Haggadah”

Barbara Wolff, Artist, New York
“Hebrew Illuminated Manuscripts for Our Time”

RECEPTION

All Fordham events in Jewish studies are free and open to public.