Antiquities of the Jews (Latin: Antiquitates Iudaicae) is an illuminated manuscript from 1466 containing Antiquities of the Jews by Flavius Josephus.[2]
| Antiquities of the Jews | |
|---|---|
| National Library of Poland | |
_(cropped).jpg) | |
| Also known as | Antiquitates Iudaicae |
| Type | codex |
| Date | 1466 |
| Place of origin | Cracow |
| Language(s) | Latin |
| Scribe(s) | Maciej (abbey’s organist) |
| Author(s) | Flavius Josephus |
| Illuminated by | Master of Krakow Cathedral's Missal (Master of the Virgin with the Unicorn) |
| Patron | Maciej Skawinka |
| Size | 45x32,5 cm, 448 pages[1] |
| Accession | Rps BOZ 1[1] |
History
editThe manuscript is a case of a medieval book made entirely in Poland that has survived unchanged to the present day.[2] It was commissioned by the Maciej Skawinka, abbot of the Benedictines in Tyniec, written and illuminated in Cracow in 1466.[2][3] The binding was made by a bookbinder also in Cracow.[2] In 1815, it was sold to Stanisław Kostka Zamoyski and incorporated into the library of the Zamoyski family in the Blue Palace in Warsaw.[3][2] After the Second World War, Jan Zamoyski, the final owner of the Zamoyski family fee tail, deposited the family library with the National Library of Poland.[2] From May 2024, the manuscript is presented at a permanent exhibition in the Palace of the Commonwealth in Warsaw.[4]
Description
editThe manuscript contains twelve of the series of twenty books by the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus.[2] The codex was copied by the abbey's organist Maciej in Gothic script in two columns.[3] The Gothic binding of wooden boards covered with blind-tooled brown leather was made sometime after 1466.[3] The tome is decorated with 15 initials, seven of which are figurative representations of themes taken from the Old Testament.[3] The manuscript's decorations are the work of two Cracow illuminators.[3] The majority of the miniatures was painted by the Master of Krakow Cathedral's Missal, also called the Master of the Virgin with the Unicorn.[3] The margins are ornamented by multicoloured floral patterns.[3] On the first page is the abbey's coat of arms.[3]
References
edit- ^ a b "Antiquitates Iudaicae". Polona. National Library of Poland. Retrieved 2024-06-12.
- ^ a b c d e f g Makowski & Sapała 2024, p. 46.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i More precious than gold 2003, section ″The Works of Flavius″.
- ^ "Palace of the Commonwealth open to visitors". National Library of Poland. 2024-05-28. Retrieved 2024-06-11.
Bibliography
edit- Makowski, Tomasz; Sapała, Patryk, eds. (2024). The Palace of the Commonwealth. Three times opened. Treasures from the National Library of Poland at the Palace of the Commonwealth. Warsaw: National Library of Poland.
- Tchórzewska-Kabata, Halina; Dąbrowski, Maciej, eds. (2003). More precious than gold. Treasures of the Polish National Library (electronic version) (PDF). Translated by Dorosz, Janina. Warsaw: National Library of Poland. ISBN 83-7009-402-3.
External links
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