Dark Mirror: The Medieval Origins of Anti-Jewish Iconography
By Sara LiptonThe straggly beard, the hooked nose, the bag of coins, and gaudy apparel—the religious artists of medieval Christendom had no shortage of virulent symbols for identifying Jews. Yet, hateful as these depictions were, the story they tell is not as simple as it first appears.Drawing on a wide range of primary sources, Lipton argues that these visual stereotypes were neither an inevitable outgrowth of Christian theology nor a simple reflection of medieval prejudices. Instead, she maps out the complex relationship between medieval Christians' religious ideas, social experience, and developing artistic practices that drove their depiction of Jews from benign, if exoticized, figures connoting ancient wisdom to increasingly vicious portrayals inspired by (and designed to provoke) fear and hostility.At the heart of this lushly illustrated and meticulously researched work are questions that have occupied scholars for ages—why did Jews becomes such powerful and poisonous symbols in medieval art? Why were Jews associated with certain objects, symbols, actions, and deficiencies? And what were the effects of such portrayals—not only in medieval society, but throughout Western history? What we find is that the image of the Jew in medieval art was not a portrait of actual neighbors or even imagined others, but a cloudy glass into which Christendom gazed to find a distorted, phantasmagoric rendering of itself.
Book details
- Hardcover
- 416 pages
- English
- 0805079106
- 9780805079104
About Sara Lipton
More Books By Sara Lipton
People who bought this also bought
Winning Ways: Four Secrets for Getting Great Results by Working Well with People
Used Book
HBR Guide to Project Management: Motivate Your Team, Avoid Scope Creep, Deliver Results
New Book
Customers for Life: How to Turn That One-Time Buyer Into a Lifetime Customer
Used Book
Total Control Financial Guide to the Qrp : How to Get Checkbook Control of Your 401k Rollover Money Now!
Used Book
30 Day Body Purification: How to Cleanse Your Inner Body and Experience the Joys of Toxin-Free Health
Used Book
HBR's 10 Must Reads 2017: The Definitive Management Ideas of the Year from Harvard Business Review (with bonus article
New Book
Every Man a Hero: A Memoir of D-Day, the First Wave at Omaha Beach, and a World at War
Used Book
The Subject of Our Lives: Thirteen San Francisco Women Tell Their Stories
Used Book
Resolving Conflict Sooner: The Powerfully Simple 4-step Method for Reaching Better Agreements More Easily in Everyday Life
Used Book
Nelson's Illustrated Encyclopedia of Bible Facts Volume 2: Life In Bible Times
Like New