The Gates of Mercy, from the Worms Mahzor, vol II
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.The Gates of Mercy figured not only in the rituals of Jewish pilgrims to Jerusalem but also metaphorically in the liturgy of Jews in the Diaspora who likely never saw the Holy Land. On the annual Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), penitent worshippers invoke God who "opens for us the Gates of Mercy." Thirteenth- and fourteenth-century illuminated German mahzors, the service books used during holidays, often make much of this moment, framing the relevant text with an elaborate urban gateway.
Artwork Details
- Title: The Gates of Mercy, from the Worms Mahzor, vol II
- Scribe: Copied by Simcha ben Yehudah (German, active late 13th century) , for his uncle, R. Baruch ben Yitzchak
- Date: ca. 1280
- Geography: Made in Southern Germany
- Culture: German
- Medium: Tempera, gold, and ink on parchment; 219 folios
- Dimensions: 17 3/4 × 12 1/4 in. (45.1 × 31.1 cm)
- Classification: Manuscripts
- Credit Line: The National Library of Israel, Jerusalem (MS. Heb. 4°781/2)
- Curatorial Department: Medieval Art and The Cloisters