Reclaiming biblical heroines : portrayals of Judith, Esther and the Shulamite in early twentieth century Jewish art / Monika Czekanowska-Gutman.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Czekanowska-Gutman, Monika, author.

Series:

Brill's series in Jewish studies ; Volume 75.

Brill's Series in Jewish Studies ; Volume 75

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Women in art.

Women in the Bible.

Bible. Old Testament--Illustrations.

Bible.

Judith (Biblical figure)--Art.

Judith.

Esther, Queen of Persia--Art.

Esther.

Shulamite (Biblical figure)--Art.

Shulamite.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (344 pages)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Leiden, The Netherlands : Brill, [2023]

Summary:

This book examines the iconography of Judith, Esther, and the Shulamite in the last decades of the nineteenth and the first two decades of the twentieth century in the works of the Polish-Jewish artists.

Although recently more studies have been devoted to the representations of Biblical heroines in modern European art, less is known about the contribution to the portrayals of Biblical women by modern Jewish artists. This monograph explores why and how heroines of the Scripture: Judith, Esther and the Shulamite received a particular meaning for acculturated Jewish artists originating from the Polish lands in the last decades of the nineteenth century and the first two decades of the twentieth century. It convincingly proves that artworks by Maurycy Gottlieb, Wilhem Wachtel, Ephraim Moses Lilien, Maurycy Minkowski, Samuel Hirszenberg and Boris Schatz significantly differed from renderings of contemporary non-Jewish artists, adopting a “Jewish perspective”, creating complex and psychological portrayals of the heroines inspired by Jewish literature and as well as by historical and cultural phenomena of Jewish revival and the cultural Zionism movement.

Contents:

Acknowledgments

List of Illustrations

Note to the Reader

Introduction

1Historical Background

2Aims of the Book and the State of the Research

3Methodology

1 Judith in Late Nineteenth- and Early-Twentieth-Century Jewish Art

1.1The Book of Judith

1.2Judith in Pre-modern Jewish and Christian Tradition and Art

1.3Judith in Nineteenth-Century Literature and Art

1.4Celebrating Her Triumph: Judith in Late-Nineteenth and Early-Twentieth-Century Jewish Art

2 The Jewish Queen Esther in Early Twentieth-Century Jewish Art

2.1The Book of Esther: Introduction

2.2Esther in Pre-modern Jewish and Christian Tradition and Art

2.3Jewish and Christian Literary Treatments of the Book of Esther in the Nineteenth Century

2.4Esther in Early Twentieth-Century Jewish Art

3 The Shulamite in Early Twentieth-Century Jewish Art

3.1The Song of Songs: An Introduction

3.2The Shulamite in Jewish and Christian Tradition and Art Up to the Nineteenth Century

3.4New Meanings of the Song of Songs in Nineteenth- and Early Twentieth-Century Jewish and Christian Literature

3.5The Ideal Jewish Woman: The Shulamite and The Song of Songs in Jewish Art of the Early Twentieth Century

Conclusion

Bibliography.

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references.

Other Format:

Print version: Czekanowska-Gutman, Monika Reclaiming Biblical Heroines

ISBN:

9789004472662

OCLC:

1351202760

Publisher Number:

10.1163/9789004472662 DOI