Lecture: Margherita Mantovani

Abstract
A classic in the Arabic literary and philosophical tradition, the novel Ḥayy ibn Yaqẓān by Ibn Ṭufayl (d. 1185) tells the story of an autodidact who discovers the world while living on his own on an island, surrounded only by animals. Throughout centuries, this novel became widely popular also in Hebrew and Latin, intriguing generations of readers. This talk focuses on two sixteenth-century Hebrew manuscripts—one currently in Mantua and the other one in Moscow—which have an intimate and curious connection that was hitherto never noticed. The distinctive elements found in these two manuscripts will allow us to discuss the cultural and historical circumstances in which they were produced, contributing to the understanding of the scribal and artistic practices that shaped an important phase in the transmission of this unique medieval philosophical novel.

Dr. Margherita Mantovani is Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Hebrew at the University of Bologna - Alma Mater Studiorum and an associated researcher at the Laboratoire d'études sur les monothéismes LEM - CNRS (UMR 8584) in Paris. In 2026 she will be Braginsky Fellow in Manuscript Studies at the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies. Her recent publications include the monography: M. Mantovani, ll cabbalista aristotelico: Paolo Ricci tra Rinascimento e Riforma, Rome 2024.

Dr. Yoav Meyrav is the Principal Investigator of the ERC funded project HEPMASITE ("Hebrew Philosophical Manuscripts as Sites of Engagement") at the Institute of Jewish Philosophy and Religion, University of Hamburg.