The Scribes and Artists of Hamburg, State and University Library, Cod. Levy 19

Abstract

A liturgical Pentateuch manuscript made in Brussels in 1309 (now Hamburg, SUB, Cod. Levy 19) is
one of very few surviving Ashkenazic manuscripts from this period to contain a colophon by a Jewish
artist. It therefore offers a unique and fascinating case study of Jews working as artists in medieval
Ashkenaz. But numerous fundamental questions concerning the division of work in this manuscript
have not been answered. In this article, I attempt to sketch out a clearer picture of the manuscript’s
production process and the artisans who participated in it, drawing on both internal evidence and
comparisons with related manuscripts.