Just as the concept of time is combined with the divine, so too natural phenomena such as rain and thunder, animals and plants, are all part of God's Creation. Perek Shirah (Chapter of Song), or Pirke Shirah, is an anonymous, late medieval collation of hymns and maxims praising the Creator. This popular text was often illustrated by artists of eighteenth-century central and northern Europe. The example displayed here (no. 26) was probably made in Vienna by Meshullam Zimmel, known for his imitations of copperplate technique. 

A manuscript from the National Library of Israel (no. 27) was copied a few decades later in Copenhagen by Uri Fayvesh ben Isaac ha-Levi (1719-1795). Working in the triple community (Dreigemeinde) of Hamburg, Altona and Wandsbek before moving to Copenhagen after 1751, his colorful works usually contain painted rather than drawn images. 

Another example of animal illustrations in the Braginsky Collection is a small book of blessings (no. 28). The artistic style and scribal technique suggest this is by Joseph ben David of Leipnik (Moravia), active in Frankfurt, Darmstadt and Altona between 1731 and 1740. 

A small decorated calendar copied in Ancona in 1811 is one of the Braginsky Collection's later manuscripts (no. 29). That year, a comet appeared in Europe's skies. It became known as Napoleon's Star, since his power was then at its height. The comet's inclusion appears to link Napoleon's primacy with divine providence.