Erlangen Haggadah

The Erlangen Haggadah marks the beginning of Jehuda Löb Pinchas' (1727–1793) successful career as a court painter. Comprising 17 carefully and elaborately composed leaves, this small manuscript features 16 wonderful pen and ink drawings, most of which take up almost half a page and one of which is brilliantly colored. Pinchas created this small masterpiece in 1747 as a demonstration of his skills for Margrave Karl Wilhelm Friedrich von Ansbach (1712–1757). Although the latter could not read the Hebrew-Aramaic Haggadah, he was so enchanted by its artistry that he paid Pinchas generously and appointed him as his court painter shortly afterwards. This was accompanied by the granting of a letter of protection from the margrave, which gave him a more secure status as a Jew. The employment became a springboard for the gifted book artist to an extremely lucrative position as court painter to Margrave Frederick III of Bayreuth (1711–1763) – founder of today's Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, in whose manuscript collection the valuable Haggadah is preserved today.