1898: The Sarajevo Haggadah becomes known (Aragon, 14th century, Sarajevo National Museum of Bosnia Herzegovina) – first appraisal of Jewish pictorial art hitherto unknown
1932: Discovery of the Synagogue of Dura Europos, 244 AD.
Marginalisation of Jewish pictorial art in research both into Judaism because of the prohibition of images and also into art history due to the remote location of Dura Europos at the Eastern frontier of the Roman Empire.
Discussion of the prohibition to create images from the Bible to rabbinic literature; prior to the Second World War the prevailing assumption was that there were non-rabbinic marginal groups favouring art, whereas ‘normative’ Jewry was iconophobic
New approaches in research after the Second World War: late antique examples and medieval manuscripts could be covered relatively quickly, whereas the manuscripts from the Baroque period still needed pioneer work.
Discussion of various examples from the synagogue at Dura Europos: the finding of the infant Moses and the resurrection from the dead in the Ezekiel story (see the lecture Death and Resurrection)
Mid sixth century saw a strengthening of Jewish national awareness: abandoning the Greek language, putting the synagogue liturgy into Hebrew during which pictorial language was harshly rejected.
Only in the 13th century was there another blossoming of figural art within the context of urban culture. Jewish artists could use the techniques of book illumination for urban scriptoria.
Three groups of medieval manuscripts:
Ashkenazi: German Lands and Northern France
Sephardi: Iberia and Southern France
Italy
In the Ashkenazi there is a clear divide between Jewish book art and its Christian surroundings. The literature of Jewish commentaries plays a big role in its iconography.
This art is defined by a strong coyness of the human figure: at least the faces of the figures are covered (Genesis Initials, Ashkenazi Bible of the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan, Würzburg 1236-38) or they are replaced by animal heads (Giving of the Law, Bird’s Head Haggadah in the Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Rhineland, approximately 1300, eschatological scenes in the Ashkenazi Bible of the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan); the heads remain without facial features.1
Short discussion of the micrography (the representation of Jonah in the British Library, MS Add. 21160, Bible circa 1300).
Regensburg Pentateuch (Israel Museum): Biblical scenes with full human representations. The scenes are strongly influenced by Rabbinic commentary literature (the circumcision of Isaac, the binding of Isaac).
Ashkenazi Haggadah illustration of the 15th century as a further central genre of Hebrew book illumination: the Second Nurnberg Haggadah (London, David Sofer Collection, formerly the Schocken Library): The Wise Men of Bne Braq, a topic mentioned in the text of the Haggadah. The text illustrations in this manuscript run parallel to a continuous, chronologically arranged Bible cycle (Finding of the infant Moses). As is common in Ashkenazi Haggadah illustration, the images appear as unframed drawings on the margins of the pages. The Biblical illustrations are heavily influenced by Rabbinic commentary literature.
In Iberia the Haggadah has a blossoming in the fourteenth century with a different character, for instance the Golden Haggadah (British Library, Barcelona, circa 1320). This tradition is strongly influenced by Christian art on the one hand, as well as by Rabbinic literature (The building of the tower of Babel, Abraham in the fiery furnace of Nimrod), Sarajevo Haggadah (the banquet of Josef)
Italian manuscript illustration is particularly influenced by Christian art: Parma Psalter, 13th century (Psalm 138: By the Waters of Babylon): Parma Pentateuch, 15th century ( beginning of Deuteronomy: Moses speaks to the Israelites).
The Picture Bible of Moses dal Castellazzo, Venice: copy of a wood cut picture Bible from the late 15th century (formerly Warsaw, Hist. Inst, now lost): Biblical Passover celebration (the only scene for which an original wood cut has been preserved). All pictures have Hebrew and Italian titles. The Castellazzo Bible is also strongly influenced by Rabbinic literature, as are other Jewish illustration traditions (spies from the Holy Land).
In Italy, where Jews from different communities encountered each other, the Ashkenazi and the Sephardi pictorial traditions met and influenced each other.
From the 16th century on Haggadot were published in Italy: Haggadah from Mantua (1560, slavery in Egypt, miraculous multiplication of the people of Israel – borrowed from Rabbinic literature; Haggadah from Venice (1609, title page).
The Haggadah from Venice appeared during a period of blossoming of Italian printing, which begins to fade at the end of the 16th century. Later the main focus of book production moved North, where in the Jewish context the Amsterdam Haggadah was important. The Haggadah with copper engravings was produced by the convert Abraham bar Jacob, who used the sequence of copper engravings from Matthew Merian the Elder as a model (the snake miracle).
In the 18th century there is a revival of Hebrew book art, particularly in Bohemia and Moravia, but also in other places, especially in the field of the Haggadah illustrations. The commissioners are court Jews, merchants and bankers. The book art craft had survived, as Torah rolls had to be, and still have to be, written by hand. Among the producers of such manuscripts were:
Joseph ben David from Leipnitz (Moravia), Uri Feibusch Isaak Segal from Altona, Juda Löw ben Elija Hakohen from Leszno. Contrary to the medieval tradition, these illustrations are no longer influenced by Rabbinic commentary literature and therefore open the way to a modern Jewish art of painting.
(Translator: Joan Avery)
The Corresponding illustrations, selected by the Center of Jewish Art (Hebrew University, Jerusalem), can be found here: http://phaidra.univie.ac.at/detail_object/o:524551
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