(AP-Washington Post) Matti Friedman - Experts at Israel's national museum have completed the restoration of a 15th-century Hebrew manuscript with exquisite illustrations made by master Italian artisans, officials said Thursday. The Renaissance masterpiece is a copy of the Mishneh Torah, an important work of Jewish law written three centuries earlier by the medieval philosopher and rabbi Maimonides. The manuscript, written on animal skin, includes Hebrew words in gold leaf and miniature figures in colorful dress against brilliant skies of a blue shade made from lapis lazuli stones. The Israel Museum in Jerusalem has half of the original book, which was divided into two parts in the 19th century. The other half is owned by the Vatican Library.
2010-04-23 08:50:12Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive