Syllabus
1. The term "Jewish art", periodization of Jewish art
Introduction to the study of Jewish fine art. Definition, theory and historiography of Jewish fine art. Leading academic institutions in the field of Jewish fine art, important art historians. Basic periodization of Jewish fine art.
Literature: Matthew Baigell - Milly Heyd (eds.): Complex Identities. Jewish Consciousness and Modern Art, New Brunswick 2001.; Kalman P. Bland: The Artless Jew. Medieval and Modern Affirmations and Denials of the Visual, Princeton 2000.; Cecil Roth (ed.): Jewish Art. An Illustrated History, Jerusalem 1971.; Heinrich Strauss: Die Kunst der Juden im Wandel der Zeit und Umwelt. Das Jüdenproblem im Spiegel der Kunst, Tübingen 1972. 2. Biblical prohibition of visual depiction – No graven images
The context and origin of the biblical prohibition of visual depiction – No graven image (Ex 20: 4, Deut 5: 8). Modern theories explaining the origin of the prohibition. Iconic and aniconic traditions in the Old Testament.
Literature: Eva Janáčová: Ikonická a anikonická tradice v náboženství starověkého Izraele, in: Religio. Revue pro religionistiku, 2006, č. 1, s. 69-86; Tryggve N. D. Mettinger: No Graven Image? Israelite Aniconism in Its Ancient Near Eastern Context, Stockholm 1995.; Karl van der Toorn (ed.): The Image and the Book. Iconic Cults, Aniconism, and the Rise of Book Religion in Israel and the Ancient Near East, Leuven 1997. 3. Ritual art of Jews, Ashkenazi versus Sephardic art, Christian-Jewish cooperation in the field of art
Ritual items used during Jewish holidays, festivities and important events in an individual's life. Division of Jewish ritual objects according to function and place of use. Specifics of Ashkenazi and Sephardic art. Intercultural relations between Christians and Jews, evidence of Christian-Jewish cooperation in the field of illuminated manuscripts and in the field of synagogue art.
Literature: Yehuda L. Bialer - Estelle Fink, Jewish Life in Art and Tradition. From the Collection of the Sir Isaac and Lady Edith Wolfson Museum, Hechal Shlomo, Jerusalem 1980.; Grace Cohen Grossman, Jewish Art, Los Angeles 1995.; Vivian B. Mann (ed.): Marocco. Jews and Art in a Muslim Land, London 1999.; Isaiah Shachar: Jewish Tradition in Art. The Feuchtwanger Collection of Judaica, Jerusalem 1981.; Jewish Texts on the Visual Arts, Cambridge 2000.; Ruth Mellinkoff: Antisemitic Hate Signs in Hebrew Illuminated Manuscripts from Medieval Germany, Jerusalem 1999.; Ruth Mellinkoff: Outcast. Signs of Otherness in Northern European Art of the Late Middle Ages, Berkeley 1993. 4. Jewish cemeteries, sepulchral monuments and their symbolism
Specifics of Jewish cemeteries and burial rituals. Jewish sepulchral monuments, their iconography and symbolism
Literature: Iveta Cermanová: Under the pressure of the enlightened state: Changes in the burial customes of Prague Jews during the reign of Joseph II, in: Judaica Bohemiae LVII-2, 2022, s. 31–72.; Iva Steinová: Maceva. Židovský náhrobek a symbolika jeho výzdoby ve světle tradice, Praha 2011.; Eva Janáčová: Svědek zašlých časů. Starý židovský hřbitov v Libni, Epigraphica et Sepulcralia VII, 2019, s. 403–420. 5. Synagogue art
Origin of the synagogue. Synagogue versus Temple. Interior equipment of synagogues. Architecture and decoration of synagogues in Central Europe with emphasis on Bohemia and Moravia.
Literature: Ruth Jacoby: Ancient Jewish Synagogues. Architectural Glossary, Jerusalem 1990.; Carl H. Kraeling: The Synagogue. The Excavations at Dura-Europos, Final Report VIII, New Haven 1956.; Lee I. Levine: The Ancient synagogue. The First Thousand Years, New Haven 2000.; Lee I. Levine (ed.): Ancient Synagogues Revealed, Jerusalem 1981.; Eleazar Lipa Sukenik: Ancient Synagogues in Palestine and Greece, London 1934.; Vilém Klein: Staronová synagoga pražská. V pověsti a ve skutečnosti a její použití mimo bohoslužby. Kritický průvodce, Praha 1932.; Richard Krautheimer: Mittelalterliche Syanagogen, Berlin 1927.; Georgii K. Lukomskii: Jewish Art in European Synagogues. From the Middle Ages to the Eighteenth Century, London 1947.; Hana Volavková: Zmizelá Praha III. Židovské město pražské, Praha 1947.; Rachel Wischnitzer: The Architecture of the European Synagogue, Philadelphia 1964. 6. Jewish art before the emancipation
Jewish art in the period before the emancipation of the Jews. The first Hebrew prints, the oldest printed Prague haggadahs. Renaissance and Baroque synagogue architecture with regard to the Czech and Moravian lands.
Literature: Two Prague Haggadahs. The 1556 Edition on Vellum and the 1590-1606 (faksimile), Verona 1978.; Hana Volavková: The Synagogue Treasures of Bohemia and Moravia, Praha 1949.; Hana Volavková: Zmizelé pražské ghetto, Praha 1961.; Rachel Wischnitzer: The Architecture of European Synagogues, Philadelphia 1964. 7. Jewish artists in the period of emancipation
Consequences of the emancipation of Jews in the field of fine arts and architecture. Jewish students and teachers at art academies in Central Europe. The main representatives of 19th century Jewish art. The phenomenon of Jewish collecting. Establishment of Jewish museums.
Literature: Fredric Bedoire: The Jewish Contribution to Modern Architecture, 1830-1930, New York 2004.; Georg Heuberger - Anton Merk (eds.): Moritz Daniel Oppenheim. Die Enteckung des jüdischen Selbstbewussteins in der Kunst, Frankfurt am Main 1999.; Susan Tumarkin Goodman (ed.), The Emergence of Jewish Artists in Nineteenth-Century Europe, London 2001.; Hyman Lewbin, Rebirth of Jewish Art. The Unfolding of Jewish Art in the Nineteenth century, New York 1977. 8. Modern Jewish and Israeli art
Jewish Impressionists. The Paris school. The main representatives of 20th century Jewish art. The transformation of Jewish art under the influence of the Holocaust. Origin and development of Israeli art.
Literature: Stephen C. Feinstein (ed.): Absence/Presence. Critical Essays on the Artistic Memory of the Holocaust, Syracuse 2005.; Mark Godfrey: Abstraction and the Holocaust, New Haven - London 2007.; Avram Kampf, Jewish Experience in the Art of the Twentieth Century, South Hadley 1984.; Mordechai Omer (ed.): 90 years of Israeli Art. A Selection from the Joseph Hackmey - Israel Phoenix Collection, Tel Aviv 1998. 9. Excursion – Library and study room of Hebrew manuscripts in the Jewish Museum in Prague 10. Excursion – Old Jewish cemetery in Prague's Josefov 11. Excursion – Old Synagogue in Prague's Josefov 12. Exam
Annotation
The special course outlines the history of Jewish art from antiquity to the present time. It introduces both the history of the Jewish nation and history of intercultural exchange appearing in the area of Christian-Judeo-Muslim relations, especially in the fields of architecture, sculpture and painting.
Jewish fine art was never created in isolation, it was always the result of many different influences. Therefore heterogeneity remains an indispensable characteristic of Jewish fine art.