Illuminated Folio from an Unknown Manuscript of Moses Maimonides’ Moreh Nevukhim [Spain: 15th century]

Ink, gouache and gold leaf on parchment 1 folio (12 x 9 ¾ in.; 305 x 250 mm). Matted and framed.

A few small holes along lower margin. Holes also in gutter crease, affecting some text on verso. Some flaking to gouache and gold, notably to final illuminated word “Emunim”. Marginal staining.

A rare surviving folio from an otherwise unknown fifteenth century copy of Maimonides magisterial philosophical work, the Moreh Nevukhim (Guide to the Perplexed).

The folio is embellished with a decorated panel for the opening words of the first chapter, the letters, in gold leaf set against a background of alternating blue and red panels highlighted with scrolling gold vines. The border design features richly colored flora with birds nestled between the foliage. In addition to this folio, there are only twelve known medieval manuscripts of the Moreh Nevukhim with decoration; five were created in Italy,one was produced in Germany and six are known to have been created in Spain during the fourteenth century. The present folio, however, is the only extant example of a fifteenth century decorated Moreh Nevukhim from Spain.

The text, inscribed on both the recto and verso of this folio, comprises the final portion of Maimonides' Introduction to the Moreh Nevukhim, a short comment from Samuel Ibn Tibbon (the translator of the book) followed by the complete first chapter and the beginning of the second chapter of the first Book of the Moreh Nevukhim. The end of the Introduction lists the seven reasons that a work might contradict itself internally and then applies them to various genres of rabbinic and philosophical literature (including the Moreh Nevukhim itself).