History of Judaica Art

The history of Judaica art dates back to the dawn of history, though only a few pieces have survived through all this time. There are some Jewish manuscripts with beautiful illustrations, in parts of Syria there are ruins of a synagogue, and mosaics in Beth Alpha.

The Jewish people migrated to Egypt and lived for hundreds of years until oppressed by a pharaoh. Moses led them from slavery back to Canaan, which they saw as a Promised Land. This is the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, which was later called Palestine.

Hebrew Scriptures tell us that God confirmed his sacred connection with them and gave Moses the Tablets of the Law, containing the Ten Commandments, on the journey. These art pieces were kept in the sacred Ark of the Covenant, which was a gold-covered wooden box piece built according to Hebrew Scriptures. The Ark was carried with the Israelites until they conquered the land of Canaan and built a temple in Jerusalem where the important pieces, the menorah and ark were placed. This First Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC, and a Second Temple was completed 70 years later by King Herod.

Jewish art ritual objects, books, and scrolls grew from Judaism's history and beliefs. Bezalel personified Judaica art, and was the first Jewish artist recorded. He was a sculptor, architect, and designer of holy garments. He also was known for creating the Tabernacle that contained the Ark of the Covenant.

The menorah is a ritual object that was kept with the Ark, its form likely taken from the Eastern Tree of Life, which symbolizes the end of exile and the paradise to come. Consecrated objects, like the Torah scrolls which included the first books of the Scriptures (Leviticus, Numbers, Genesis, Exodus, and Deuteronomy), were publicly read but kept in shrines.

Jews were forbidden to create art objects that could be worshiped as idols, and this applied mainly to sculpture. During the Roman Empire, Judaica art combined Near Eastern and classical Roman and Greek elements to depict symbolic and narrative subjects. From these artifacts grew Christian art as well, since Christianity rose from Judaism. Christian art drew its imagery and styles from Jewish art in a process called syncretism. For instance, there are some examples of worshipers with outstretched arms that might be Jewish art, Christian, or Pagan. These orant Judaica art figures can be identified more closely by the context in which they occur.

Probably the most important of the syncretic images is the Good Shepherd. Pagans saw him as Hermes the shepherd, but in Judaica art and Christian art, he is the Good Shepherd written about in the Psalm 23: "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want."

Denise Gabbard for Tal Zolberg, owner of seovision
Judaica Art