SIMS Visiting Research Fellow Seminar
The Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies is pleased to announce the following seminar to be given by our current Visiting Research Fellow, Dr. Aleksandra Bunčić.
Illuminating the Skies: Jews, Science and an Astronomical Anthology (LJS 57) in Medieval Catalonia
Thursday, October 27, 5:15-6:30 PM
Rm 625, 6th Floor, Kislak Center
This seminar explores the dissemination of scientific knowledge in medieval Spain through the lens of an extraordinary illuminated manuscript that is housed at the Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies and catalogued as an astronomical anthology (LJS 57). Produced in the second half of the fourteenth century (c. 1361) in Catalonia, in Hebrew, this manuscript includes a collection of astronomical texts, a copy of a treatise on the calendar compiled for King Pedro IV of Aragon, works by the twelfth-century scientist Abraham Ibn Ezra, an introduction to astrology, and a Hebrew translation of Ptolemy's Almagest. By examining this manuscript's art historical, cultural, and local contexts, the seminar consider developments in book production, astronomical iconography, and the identities and roles of Jewish scientists in late medieval Spain. The manuscript will be on display throughout the seminar.
The seminar is free and open to the public, but seating is limited. For more information and to register, go to : http://www.library.upenn.edu/