Cultural Exchange: Jews, Christians, and Art in the Medieval Marketplace (Jews, Christians and Muslims from the Ancient to the Modern World)
Joseph Shatzmiller
Princeton University Press 2013
ISBN-13: 978-0691156996
Demonstrating that similarities between Jewish and Christian art in the Middle Ages were more than coincidental, Cultural Exchange meticulously combines a wide range of sources to show how Jews and Christians exchanged artistic and material culture. Joseph Shatzmiller focuses on communities in northern Europe, Iberia, and other Mediterranean societies where Jews and Christians coexisted for centuries, and he synthesizes the most current research to describe the daily encounters that enabled both societies to appreciate common artistic values.
Detailing the transmission of cultural sensibilities in the medieval money market and the world of Jewish money lenders, this book examines objects pawned by peasants and humble citizens, sacred relics exchanged by the clergy as security for loans, and aesthetic goods given up by the Christian well-to-do who required financial assistance. The work also explores frescoes and decorations likely painted by non-Jews in medieval and early modern Jewish homes located in Germanic lands, and the ways in which Jews hired Christian artists and craftsmen to decorate Hebrew prayer books and create liturgical objects. Conversely, Christians frequently hired Jewish craftsmen to produce liturgical objects used in Christian churches.
With rich archival documentation, Cultural Exchange sheds light on the social and economic history of the creation of Jewish and Christian art, and expands the general understanding of cultural exchange in brand-new ways.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Joseph Shatzmiller is the Smart Family Professor of Judaic Studies at Duke University. He is the author of Shylock Reconsidered and Jews, Medicine, and Medieval Society.
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
- List of Illustrations vii
- Preface xi
- Introduction 1
- Part 1 Pawnbrokers: Agents of Cultural Transmission 5
- Chapter 1 Financial Activities in the Medieval Marketplace 7
- Chapter 2 Securities for Loans: Church Liturgical Objects 22
- Chapter 3 High Finance: Urban and Princely Pledges 45
- Part 2 Human Imagery in Medieval Ashkenaz 59
- Chapter 4 The Decorated Home of the Rabbi of Zurich 61
- Chapter 5 German Jews and Figurative Art: Appreciation and Reservation 73
- Part 3 At the Marketplace: Professionals in the Service of the “Other” 111
- Chapter 6 Christian Artists and Jewish Patronage 113
- Chapter 7 Jewish Craftsmanship at the Service of the Church 141
- Conclusions 158
- Appendix Jewish Traditions and Ceremonies: How Original? 162
- Select Bibliography 167
- Index 177
The Book is published in the series: Jews, Christians, and Muslims from the Ancient to the Modern World
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