Signs & Wonders: 100 Haggada Masterpieces [Hardcover]

Signs & Wonders: 100 Haggada Masterpieces
By: Adam S. Cohen

Product Description
No book in Jewish history has been illustrated more often than the Haggada. Signs & Wonders: 100 Haggada Masterpieces is the first work to survey the magnificent history of the illustrated haggada, from the Middle Ages, to the early Modern period, to the present.
Focusing on the finest examples, the book reproduces each illustration in full color, alongside short descriptions that explore the meaning of the imagery, the achievement of the artist, and the larger historical context in which the book was produced. Wonderfully written and stunningly designed, Signs and Wonders brings its masterpieces to life, presenting a rich panorama of Jewish art through the ages. This book is not a haggada but an exploration of some of the most beautifully illustrated haggadot throughout history.

Review
A richly illustrated volume with a lucid historical introduction and sensitive analysis of the aesthetic and religious values given artistic form in these beautiful haggadot. Cohen illuminates the idiosyncratic details of the illustrations, with their references sometimes humorous or poignant to contemporary Jewish life and culture. --Avivah Zornberg, author, Moses: A Human Life

This isn't just an art book, it is a history of the Jewish imagination. At first you look at these pictures and see only the strangeness of a time beyond your own. But as you move through Cohen s eloquent commentary, you enter the most immortal of stories, lived and celebrated in every generation up to ours. I was surprised to find myself moved beyond words. Dara Horn, author, Eternal Life

With Signs and Wonders, Adam Cohen has provided a magisterial survey of a venerable religious and artistic tradition. In chronicling the development of illustrated haggadot manuscripts over the course of more than seven hundred years, he offers readers an insightful and deeply learned window into a vibrant art form. --Daniel H. Weiss, president, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Passover haggada gave rise to the most popular illustrated book in the history of Jewish art. In this volume, Adam Cohen has carefully selected and succinctly presented the most attractive and significant haggadot created from the Middle Ages to the present, making this fascinating chapter of Jewish art accessible to a wide audience. --Shalom Sabar, professor, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

About the Author
Dr. Adam S. Cohen is an Associate Professor in the Department of the History of Art at the University of Toronto, where he has served as the Assistant Director of the university's Center for Jewish Studies and has introduced many courses on Jewish art. Originally from New York, Adam attended Columbia University as an undergraduate and then completed his Ph.D. at The Johns Hopkins University in 1995. He has worked in the Manuscripts Department at the J. Paul Getty Museum and taught at numerous institutions; he has been a visiting scholar at the Hebrew University and a research fellow at the Israel Institute for Advanced Studies in Jerusalem. The author of numerous articles and books, including the forthcoming Art and Architecture of the Middle Ages, Adam's research interests focus on many aspects of medieval illuminated manuscripts, including the use of visual culture in the construction of identity and as a tool in Christian-Jewish polemics. With Linda Safran, he is the current editor of Gesta, the biannual journal of the International Center of Medieval Art.

Hardcover: 381 pages
Publisher: The Toby Press (February 1, 2018)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1592644848
ISBN-13: 978-1592644841