With two figures representing the Church and the Synagogue, this work demonstrates how Carolingians were negotiating the relationship between Christianity and Judaism
Dr. Ariel Fein
One Torah’s decoration—from Iraq to China and India—reveals global artistic and cultural connections in the 19th century.
Chinese export silver, a 19th-century Torah case
This unfinished Hebrew manuscript meant for a Passover ritual helps us understand how medieval manuscripts were made
The Prato Haggadah
This illuminated manuscript of the Ardashirnama reveals how 17th-century Iranian Jews visually and poetically emphasized their identities as both Iranian and Jewish.
The Ardashirnama: a Judeo-Persian manuscript
This unfinished Hebrew manuscript meant for a Passover ritual helps us understand how medieval manuscripts were made
The Prato Haggadah
This ornamented silver cup tells a story about a prominent Jewish man close to rulers and European courts at a time when Jewish life was restricted
Joachim Michael Salecker, Cup with cover with ...
An exceptional example of Byzantine craftsmanship, this shimmering icon was taken from Constantinople to Venice during the Crusades
Icon of the Archangel Michael
The medieval architecture and decoration of the Ben Ezra Synagogue reflect the Egyptian Jewish community's connections to the local visual culture.
The Ben Ezra Synagogue, Fustat, Egypt
This Muslim prayer carpet shares striking visual similarities to a Jewish carpet meant to cover the Torah ark
Ottoman prayer carpet with triple-arch design
Jewish ceremonial art reflects the artistic styles of the cultures among which Jewish communities have lived.
Jewish ceremonial art
This essay explores the vibrant artistic tradition that developed around the Torah and its decoration.
The Torah and its adornment
What prompted the fourth–century Jewish community of Hammath Tiberias to adorn their house of worship with an image of Sol, a prominent Roman deity?
Mosaic decoration at the Hammath Tiberias synagogue
Pages dyed pink, script from the Maghreb, and gold medallions make this Qu'ran especially spectacular
Bifolium from the Pink Qur’an
Through art and text, Elisha ben Abraham Cresques penned the Farhi Bible to preserve his religious and cultural heritage for his descendants.
Elisha ben Abraham Cresques and the Farhi ...
The Catalan Atlas reveals how one 14th-century Jewish mapmaker understood the political and ethnic realities of his world.
The Catalan Atlas
This is one of three known Hebrew Bibles that survive from the Crown of Castile in the 14th century
From Medieval Spain to the Ottoman Empire, ...
A glimpse of the lost art of painted wooden synagogues popularized among Eastern European Jewish communities in the 17th and 18th centuries
The Gwoździec synagogue: the lost art of ...
A glimpse of the lost art of painted wooden synagogues popularized among Eastern European Jewish communities in the 17th and 18th centuries
The Gwoździec Synagogue
Much like modern souvenirs, these mementos of Christian, Muslim, and Jewish pilgrimage perpetuated pilgrims’ spiritual encounters, stimulating the reliving of the pilgrimage experience and their engagement with their faith.
Pilgrimage souvenirs
Much like modern souvenirs, these mementos of Christian, Muslim, and Jewish pilgrimage perpetuated pilgrims’ spiritual encounters, stimulating the reliving of the pilgrimage experience and their engagement with their faith.
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