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The Illuminated Torah |
In 2004 Art Chazin took on a new project ‘The Illuminated Torah’, a new and exciting work of art in the history of Jewish manuscripts and the Judaica world at large.
The Tessler Family of Chicago requested to perform a special work of art incomparable to anything already in its range, with the intention to add a new and exciting dimension to the deep and complex text of our Torah - the basis of Judaism. Family Rennert, patrons of the limited edition, joined family Tessler in their mission to support the most ambitious project of its kind in the history of Jewish art. Although in recent centuries illuminated manuscripts and drawings could already be found, such as the Passover Haggadah, Megilat Esther, illustrated Ketubahs and various other manuscripts, but never had the beauty of Torah been expressed in such a spectacular and tangible way. With the Illuminated Torah, its art and its persuasive messages one can get new insights on the teachings of our exalted G’d and experience the majesty and beauty of his Torah. Its panoramic scope offers a glimpse into the infinite wisdom of G’d, which was given to Moshe to share with the Jewish Nation.
The original work commissioned by The Tessler family was made on parchment size 15” * 20” and was divided into 13 volumes which are displayed at their home. The calligraphy and the various interpretations of the text were made by calligrapher artist Rabbi Yonah Weirib. The artistic paintings were done by Art Chazin over a period of 7 years. The book contains 375 pages; over 160 of them contain illustrations, surrounding the interpretations of the Torah, in vibrant colors and amazing art.
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The Limited Edition, the Rennert Edition |
The facsimile edition of the Illuminated Torah is limited to only 613 copies, the edition was skilfully and professionally produced by Avraham Chazin, who conducted the whole process of production for about a year and a half. The process of production for a book of such dimension is very complex and requires a lot of responsibility and professionalism.The production process starts by scanning the original parchment pictures and comparing its colours to those of the original. This step of scanning is the most complex part of the process due to the fact that parchment seems to be alive and moving; it is wavy and therefore requires a special scanner. A team of professionals from Art Chazin were recruited for the graphic production of the project such as: proofreading of the calligraphic text, layout of the book, hand drawing of the engravings for the gold stamping and the preparation of the laser.The book was printed on wood-free paper made especially for this project, impressive stamp gold was used on all of the drawings and the page preceding each episode is complimented with laser cuttings. At the end of this process the book was bound with leather binding.The limited edition of the Illuminated Torah glorifies the homes of Judaica collectors around the world, prime ministers and Senators. It can be admired in various museums in the States and in the Yeshiva ‘Aish Hatorah’ http://www.aish.com/ at the Kotel.The credits belonging to Art Chazin can be found on page 5 of the book. |
The Classic Shwalb Edition of Bereishis |
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In the original edition of the book of Bereishis, Art Chazin participated with the drawings for most of the book, besides for just a small part of it which was done by a different team of artists. The difference in the level of painting can be noticed, the book was printed in a smaller version and marketed by the company ‘Artscroll’.The credits belonging to Art Chazin can be found on page 5 of the book, if you cannot find our credits please inform us about this.Today certain special individual pages of the project can be purchased, such as the splitting of the Yam Suf, the Beit Hamikdash, Akeidat Yitzchak, the ten Maämarot, the Luchot, or any other page. Due to fake copies existing in the market make sure to notice the symbol of Art Chazin on the left side of the page when purchasing. If you cannot find this symbol please contact us by email, chazin@neto.net.il |
