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The widespread assumption that Jewish religious tradition is mediated through words, not pictures, has left Jewish art with no significant role to play in Jewish theology and ethics. Judaism and the Visual Image argues for a Jewish theology of image that, among other things, helps us re-read the creation story in Genesis 1 and to question why images of Jewish women as religious subjects appear to be doubly suppressed by the Second Commandment, when images of observant male Jews have become legitimate, even iconic, representations of Jewish holiness. Raphael further suggests that 'devout beholding' of images of the Holocaust is a corrective to post-Holocaust theologies of divine absence from suffering that are infused by a sub-theological aesthetic of the sublime. Raphael concludes by proposing that the relationship between God and Israel composes itself into a unitary dance or moving image by which each generation participates in a processive revelation that is itself the ultimate work of Jewish art.
This book discusses the decoration types of Sephardic illuminated Bibles in their broader historical, and social context in an era of cultural transition in Iberia and culture struggle within Spanish Jewry.
This book looks at art historical explorations, matters of archival legitimacy, the survival of fakes and forgeries and many other aspects of Jewish art. It commemorates the life and work of Isaiah Shachar through the medium of papers given at the first international conference on Jewish art.
A detailed survey of the artistic contributions of Jewish culture, this work features over 6400 artists defining Jewish art on broad based terms. The title is divided into four sections: artists of Jewish lineage who addressed Judaic themes; artists of Jewish lineage who used non-Jewish subjects; non-Jewish artists who dealt with Judaic themes; and sculptors. Around Jewish Art serves as a reference book and permanent fixture for students of Jewish culture as well as art enthusiasts and collectors.
A powerful history of Jewish art collectors in France, and how an embrace of art and beauty was met with hatred and destruction In the dramatic years between 1870 and the end of World War II, a number of prominent French Jews—pillars of an embattled community—invested their fortunes in France’s cultural artifacts, sacrificed their sons to the country’s army, and were ultimately rewarded by seeing their collections plundered and their families deported to Nazi concentration camps. In this rich, evocative account, James McAuley explores the central role that art and material culture played in the assimilation and identity of French Jews in the fin-de-siècle. Weaving together narrative...
In Modern Jewish Art: Definitions, Problems, and Opportunities, Ori Z. Soltes considers both the emerging and evolving discussion on, and the expanding array of practitioners of ‘Jewish art’ in the past two hundred years. He notes the developing problem of how to define ‘Judaism’ in the 19th century—as a religion, a culture, a race, a nation, a people—and thus the complications for placing ‘Jewish art’ under the extended umbrella of ‘religion and the arts.’ The fluidity with which one must engage the subject is reflected in the broadening conceptual and visual vocabulary, the extended range of subject foci and media, and the increasingly rich analytical approaches to the subject that have surfaced particularly in the past fifty years. Well-known and little-known artists are included in a far-ranging discussion of painting, sculpture, photography, video, installations, ceremonial objects, and works that blur the boundaries between categories.
The current volume presents ten different studies dealing with the final stages of Hebrew book art production in medieval Iberia. Ranging from the Farhi Codex, copied and illuminated in the late 14th century, to the Philadelphia Bible, copied and illuminated in Lisbon in 1496, this volume discusses a wide scope of topics related with the production, consumption and circulation of medieval decorated Hebrew manuscripts. Among the issues discussed in this volume we highlight the role played by three distinct artistic languages (Mudejar, Late Gothic and Renaissance) in the shapping of 15th century Sephardic illumination, the codicological specificity of some solutions in terms of layout and the relation between the layout of these manuscripts and Hebrew incunabula, the use of geometric decoration in scientific diagrams, or the afterlife of these manuscripts in Europe and Asia following the expulsion of the Jews from Iberia.
Jewish Diaspora in Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine periods from first to the eighth centuries C.E. is the subject of this work. The author thoroughly investigates origin, symbolism and significance of the mainly synagogal and funerary art forms in the Diaspora. Ancient Jewish Art and Archaeology in the Diaspora is the companion volume to the successful Ancient Jewish Art and Archeaeology in the Land of Israel (1988) by the same author. The geographical area covered includes Syria, Asia Minor, North Africa and Mediterranean Europe. The first section examines the characteristic features of Diaspora Art synagogue architecture and art (including the Torah shrine and mosaic pavements). Another section deals with burial and funerary practices. Of special importance are the sections on the Biblical scenes, designs and iconography of the Dura Europos synagogue, and the Jewish symbols such as the Menorah, ritual objects, the Ark, the conch and the Torah Scrolls. The book is richly illustrated with more than 325 drawings and photographs, some in colour.
Covering nearly two centuries, this is a comprehensive account of the art made by Jews across Europe, America and Israel. The book discusses many issues including the shifting Jewish identity, the effects of the diaspora, anti-Semitism and the distinctive character of images made within a Christian.