A collector's illuminated Hebrew Bible has a new home in a museum

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Peter Libbey

One of only three surviving embellished Hebrew Bibles from the kingdom of Castile in the 14th century. Credit via Sotheby's

[Last] Wednesday, the final day of Hanukkah, the Metropolitan Museum of Art announced its acquisition of an illuminated Hebrew Bible from 14th-century Spain. The Met bought the manuscript for an undisclosed sum from the collector Jaqui E. Safra before it went to auction in Sotheby’s Judaica sale. The auction house had estimated the piece would sell for $3.5 to $5 million.The Bible will be displayed at the Met Cloisters museum in spring 2018.The museum’s new acquisition is one of only three surviving embellished Hebrew Bibles from the 14th-century Spanish kingdom of Castile. [More]