Jewish art history - Assignment Example

Jewish Art Artistic styles present in non-Jewish art and architecture has been borrowed, used, and modified in Jewish art.Throughout the long history of Judaism, its survival has been comprised of modifications and adaptations of some aspects or components of non-Jewish surrounding cultures and successfully incorporating these into its traditions and rituals. For example, some excavated Samaritan synagogues showed a usage of mosaics and known to be a decorative style associated with Mediterranean cultures such as the Ancient Greeks (Fine 19).

In another example, the use of delicately and richly-embroidered Torah curtains during the Ottoman Empire was adapted from the Islamic tradition of providing lavish and elaborate cloths as dowry, wherein the cloths were originally used in the home for ceremonial reasons but eventually became incorporated into synagogue use due to the motifs and designs used in association with rituals and ceremonies practiced under Jewish customs and traditions (“Art and Ceremony” 197). Lastly, another example of adapting the surrounding culture and assimilating it into Jewish culture is the use of a printing press in publishing the Haggadah, along with the incorporation of related or unrelated illustrations beside the texts, resembling non-Jewish medieval scriptures and texts (“Jewish Texts” 109;Yerushalmi 18).

Possible reasons for the gradual incorporation of iconography can come from the need to appease the empires or the majority of the population, as well as the acceptance of later generations to its use in religious contexts. In essence, based on the level of tolerance and the sophistication of the majority of the population surrounding Jewish societies, the gradual introduction of iconography through various aspects within the Jewish culture steadily grew as the result of an incorporation of non-Jewish customs or traditions that strongly-support the use or incorporation of images or stylized texts into religious settings, along with the changing ideals of the succeeding Jewish generations. 2. How can Jewish-Christian relations be interpreted through visual culture?

Despite seeming very different and cut-off from one another, the relationship between Jews and Christians is actually strong. Apart from the incorporation of Jewish ancient texts into the holy books of Christians, with regards to the contributions of Christians into Jewish traditions and cultures, this relationship is better expressed seen through influences in the visual cultures of each one. For example, around the Renaissance era there have been many changes observed with the synagogues built during those times, wherein the buildings became larger and more elaborate, which can be compared to Christian churches in the same era (Krinsky 48).

Another example is the placement of the bimah and the ark relative to the size of the synagogue, wherein as the synagogue becomes larger so does the size of the bimah and the ark, and the larger the bimah and the ark the more prominent the placements are, similar to Christian churches having altars and pulpits at the most prominent places (50).With regards to the publishing of Hebrew sacred texts and prayer books, despite the issue of distraction among the faithful, there has been an incorporation of illustrations in prayer books, much like in Christian scriptures(“Jewish Texts” 109).

Such acts were sanctioned around the 13th century since it was not exactly idolatry per se, and were seen as a form of imitation of Christian holy texts and bibles. The addition of icons in Hebrew prayer books and texts were deemed to be the end result of the secularization of contemporary Latin manuscripts, which some members of the Jewish faith decided to work on towards an artistic pursuit. It is worth noting that these examples related to the flourishing of the religions were strongly-connected to other major faiths such as Christianity and Islam, but cannot be reconciled with the Jewish faith itself due to seemingly-strong adherence to age-old traditions and beliefs.

However, it is otherwise true as it can be seen that the Jewish faith is also able to accept and incorporate outside cultures and adapt it as their own, which can only be possible through strong relations and mutual respect between Jews and Christians.Works CitedFine, Steven, ed.. Sacred Realm: The Emergence of the Synagogue in the Ancient World. New York: Oxford University Press and Yeshiva University Museum, 1996.Krinsky, Carol Herselle. Synagogues of Europe: Architecture, History, Meaning.

Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, Inc., 1996.Mann, Vivian. Art and ceremony in Jewish life: Essays in the History of Jewish Art. London: Pindar Press, 2005.___________. Jewish Texts on the Visual Arts. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000.Yerushalmi, Yosef Hayim. Haggadah and History. Philadelphia, PA: The Jewish Publication Society of America, 2005.