Gardens and Ghettos: The Art of Jewish Life in ItalyJews arrived in the Republic of Rome some time in the second or first century B.C.E. They soon formed their own community which absorbed Roman cultural forms but was able to maintain its identity and integrity. For more than twenty centuries, the Italian peninsula has been home to the heirs of this ancient minority community, whose culture is a blend of traditional Jewish content with Roman, then Italian cultural forms. Gardens and Ghettos: The Art of Jewish Life in Italy is the title of an exhibition curated by Vivian B. Mann and Emily Braun for The Jewish Museum, New York (September 1989-January 1990), an exhibition that explores the extraordinarily rich artistic legacy of Italian Jewry. This book, like the exhibition itself, focuses on four time periods: the Empire, the Era of the City States (1300-1550), the Era of the Ghettos (1550-1750), and the period since the Risorgimento. Artifacts and architecture are generously represented along with fine arts. Essays by prominent scholars introduce us to the historical and cultural context of a splendid array of works, from ancient Roman architectural fragments and gold glass to illuminated manuscripts and printed books from the Renaissance, baroque ceremonial textiles and silver, and paintings, graphics, and sculpture of the modern era. The many illustrations illuminate the art and life of a minority community in dynamic tension with dominant society and show the vibrant, ongoing contribution by Jews to the arts of Italy. Jews arrived in the Republic of Rome some time in the second or first century B.C.E. They soon formed their own community which absorbed Roman cultural forms but was able to maintain its identity and integrity. For more than twenty centuries, the Italian peninsula has been home to the heirs of this ancient minority community, whose culture is a blend of traditional Jewish content with Roman, then Italian cultural forms. Gardens and Ghettos: The Art of Jewish Life in Italy is the title of an exhibition curated by Vivian B. Mann and Emily Braun for The Jewish Museum, New York (September 1989-January 1990), an exhibition that explores the extraordinarily rich artistic legacy of Italian Jewry. This book, like the exhibition itself, focuses on four time periods: the Empire, the Era of the City States (1300-1550), the Era of the Ghettos (1550-1750), and the period since the Risorgimento. Artifacts and architecture are generously represented along with fine arts. Essays by prominent scholars introduce us to the historical and cultural context of a splendid array of works, from ancient Roman architectural fragments and gold glass to illuminated manuscripts and printed books from the Renaissance, baroque ceremonial textiles and silver, and paintings, graphics, and sculpture of the modern era. The many illustrations illuminate the art and life of a minority community in dynamic tension with dominant society and show the vibrant, ongoing contribution by Jews to the arts of Italy. |
Contents
The Historical Legacy of Italian Jewry I | 25 |
Vivian B Mann The Arts of Jewish Italy | 45 |
Richard Brilliant Jewish Art and Culture in Ancient Rome | 67 |
Dora Liscia Bemporad Jewish Ceremonial Art in the Era of the City States and the Ghettos III | 137 |
Catalogue of the Exhibition | 209 |
Biographies of Painters and Sculptors | 329 |
Glossary | 341 |
Contributors to the Catalogue | 353 |
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Common terms and phrases
Amedeo Modigliani amulet Bronze Cagli Carlo Levi Carpi cartouches catacomb century C.E. Christian coat of arms Comunità Israelitica Corpus Inscriptionum Iudaicarum crown cultural D'Ancona d'Arte Moderna decorated depicted ebrei eighteenth century engraved example exhibition Fascist Ferrara Florence Frey Galleria ghetto Giuseppe GMG Bibliography GMG Unpublished Haggadah Hebrew inscription Israel Museum Italian Jews Italian-Jewish Italy Jerusalem Jewish Art Jewish artists Jewish community Jewish Museum Jewish Symbols Jewish Theological Seminary Jewry Judaica kabbalah Leon Library Livorno Macchiaioli Mafai manuscript Margherita Sarfatti Mario menorah Milan Modigliani motifs Museo Nazionale Romano Nunes Vais Oil on canvas Ostia Padua painter painting Paris piyyut portrait Private Collection Rabbi Raphaël Renaissance Roman Rome cat Sarfatti scene scrolls Seminary of America seventeenth century silk silver sixteenth century Storia style synagogue tion Torah Ark Torah curtains Torah finials tradition Trieste Turin VBM Bibliography VBM Unpublished Venetian Venice York cat המלך