Seder Hagadah shel Pesah (“Hamburg Haggadah”)

A frequently illustrated Jewish liturgical text, the Haggadah is used during the seder, the festive Passover meal. The text guides the participants through the retelling of the miraculous delivery of the Israelites from ancient Egypt. The illustration on the right shows a younger Abraham smashing the false idols worshipped by his father, while on the left, three angels visit the mature Abraham in Canaan. This manuscript on vellum was created when the production of handwritten books in Europe had declined with the rise of printing technology. During an 18th-century revival, however, scribes employed by Court Jews—wealthy individuals providing financial services to the royalty of Central Europe—artistically rendered a number of deluxe Hebrew manuscript books of blessings and prayers, Sabbath compendia, and Passover Haggadot.