Joel ben Simeon was a scribe and illuminator, active in the German Lands and Italy from c. 1445 until his death after 1490. His personal, distinct drawing style is easily recognizable in about 30 manuscripts, among them numerous haggadot demonstrating that he contributed much to establish a popular repertoire of haggadah illustration.

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Joel ben Simeon was born in c. 1420, perhaps in Cologne. When the Jews were expelled from that city in 1424, his family may have moved to Bonn, as he later named one or the other of the two cities as his place of origin in some of his colophons. Thus, he most lik…