A Haggadah is the script for the seder ritual on the first nights of Passover. The word means “telling,” and the seder is a ritual for the telling of the Passover story—the Exodus from Egypt—in a particular rabbinic fashion. 

This Haggadah, produced in ca. 1300 in the Catalan region of Spain by an unknown scribe and artist, is an exceptional sample of a decorated Haggadah manuscript in the local tradition; it may be compared with the famous Sarajevo Haggadah, with which it shares a liturgical and artistic tradition. Its fine decorations and illustrations are a testament to the wealth of its patron and his concern for beautifying the tradition. Notably, the manuscript is unfinished (for unknown reasons), allowing us to view the process by which such manuscripts were created. 

In addition to the vivid colors and gold leaf, along with the strange hybrid creature, this page features the continuation of a chase game that began on the Haggadah’s opening page. The hound looking back through his legs on the bottom right is checking his safety to his rear, a detail that will invite those who view this (the children!) to ask about new developments in the dramatic chase.