Hebrew Micrography: 1,000 Years of Art in Script

Abstract

The art of Hebrew micrography — minute writing in the shape of objects or designs — began in the late ninth century in Eretz Israel. From there is spread to Egypt, Yemen, and Europe, where it reached its height from the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries. While nearly all medieval micrography was in Bibles, after the Renaissance it appears in marriage contracts and on other sheets of parchment or paper hung on the walls of synagogues and homes. This longest lasting of Jewish art forms continues to be widely practiced today by scribes and calligraphers.