Short overview of the approaches to Jewish pictorial art in late Antiquity: monumental art in the Middle East
6th Century: Sudden breaking off of figurative painting, related to a new “national” awareness (giving up the Greek language in favour of Hebrew in the religious service); Reverting back to the Biblical prohibition of images, as well as the destruction of artistic evidence. Additionally, Islam’s hostility towards images also affects the Jewish culture.
New approaches follow in the 13th century in the West, where a rich tradition of book art exists. This was primarily exercised in convents, with a shift towards urban lay workshops occurring in around 1200.
Jewish interest in manuscript painting repeatedly meets with criticism from Rabbinic authorities. Joseph the Zealot (Hameqanne), France, mid 13th century. His interpretation of the prohibition of images may have contributed to the fact that in Jewish art animal heads often replaced human ones, or that the faces were covered (only in the region of what is now Germany).
Among the earliest evidence of Ashkenazi book art one can find the Ashkenazi Bible in the Biblioteca Ambrosiana (see lecture Bible Images in Judaism): Genesis Initials/the Fall): Adam and Eva are seen with covered faces, and from behind. At the end of the Pentateuch there are more detailed representations of the Book of Ruth, as well as of the Just at the last meal (eating of the Messianic animals Behemot, Leviathan and Zit corresponds to the alphabet of the Rabbi Aqiba) and finally a picture of the seven heavenly spheres with the four creatures from the book Ezekiel (corresponds to the imagery of late antiquity Merkabah literature.
Rashi Commentary in Munich: the oldest dated manuscript with illustrations, Würzburg 1233 (visit of the three angels to Abraham), the iconography of this Rashi commentary is a typical, as otherwise only sketches of the temple plan are to be found in these texts.
In Iberia on the other hand, figural representations were almost completely abstained from, probably under the influence of Islamic culture. The so-called Cervera Bible (Lisbon) 1299-1300 is an exception. Its illuminator is named in a colophon of his own: Josef the French: Zacharia’s vision in an unusual representation: Jonas’s ship journey (with human figures).
During the 15th century the Cervera Bible was preserved in La Coruña, Galicia, where in 1476 it was used as a model for the making of the first Kennikott Bible. This was illuminated by Josef, ibn Chayyim.
Passover Haggadot are known both in the Ashkenazi and in the Sephardi traditions. The earliest Ashkenazi Bible comes from around 1300 from Southern Germany, perhaps Würzburg and is known as the Bird’s Head Haggadah (Israel Museum), see lectures Jewish Book Illumination in Germany, slide 1, 2, 3. In the Ashkenazi Haggadot illustrations appear unframed and in the margins.
In the Sephardi Haggadot however, there is a continuous biblical cycle, which does not directly connect to the Haggada text: Golden Haggadah (British Library); the Bible scenes are sometimes enriched with elements from commentary literature (Midrash) (the story of Noah, the tower of Babel with a representation of the builders killing each other, a legend originating in the Genesis Rabba, Abraham in the fiery furnace.
Coburg Pentateuch from Coburg, first half of the 15th century. At the end of the book of Leviticus there is the image of a teacher and his student within an intricate architectural setting. This is the oldest representation of the Coburg Fortress.
The most interesting scribe and painter to be known by name was Joel ben Simeon, originally from the Rhineland, who moved to Italy in the middle of the century. His life story can be reconstructed with the help of about twenty manuscripts, among which there are particularly many Haggadot. Of special interest is the so-called London Haggada (BL, Add. 14762) from around 1460. The departure of the children of Israel from Egypt and their persecution by the Pharaoh’s army clearly shows how much Joel had adopted the style of Italian painting.
Contemplating Joel’s work leads us to early modern book printing. Of particular interest is the signed copy of a picture Bible with woodcuts for the whole Pentateuch. The original has not been preserved, but can be ascribed to the Venetian artist Moses dal Castellazzo. Dal Castellazzo used a great variety of models of both Christian and Jewish origin. Many of his pictures use Jewish legends.
The oldest Ashkenazi Passover Haggada was printed in 1526 in Prague by Gerschon Kohen. It was followed by the so-called Mantua Haggada in 1560 and the Venetian Haggada in 1609. In the 17th century the Amsterdam Haggada was printed, the city becoming a new centre for Jewish book printing. Whereas the older printed Haggadot were endowed with woodcuts, the Amsterdam Haggada now had a series of copper engravings. It was produced by a convert, a former priest, who used the models by Matthew Merian.
In the 18th century a new tradition arose of handwritten and painted Passover Haggadot commissioned by court Jews. The writers and painters came mainly from Vienna and Moravia. Among the most important were Josef ben David from Leibnitz, who was able to gain a large clientele from the many German cities. Echoes of this tradition can be followed all the way up to to Northern Germany, to Altona.
(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:525990
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