Works of art and architecture made by or for Jewish communities in the medieval period are often examined through the lenses of persecution and expulsion, or are contrasted against Christian or Muslim“styles.” This symposium seeks to expand and nuance these narratives in order to highlight how works of art and architecture can uniquely trace the history of particular Jewish communities by mapping their movements and traditions across generations and geographies. Medieval Jewish objects and spaces can also serve as loci to examine ideas related to collective memory and cultural identity. To that end, the symposium seeks to open new dialogues regarding the “afterlives” of medieval Jewish art more broadly, initiating discussions regarding the ways in which works of art and architecture continued to bear witness to the richness of Jewish life and culture long after they were created.
Organised by Laura Feigen and Reed O’Mara, this symposium is supported by Sam Fogg and the Mellon Foundation with additional support from The Department of Art History and Art at Case Western Reserve University.
Programme:
Monday 19 May
10.00 – 10.30: Registration opens
The Courtauld, Vernon Square Campus
10.30 – 11.00: Opening remarks, and introduction to the day
Tom Nickson, The Courtauld; Laura Feigen, The Courtauld, and Reed O’Mara, Case Western Reserve University
11.00 – 12.30: Session I – Manuscripts and movement
Chaired by Claudia Haines, Case Western Reserve University
Judith Olszowy-Schlanger, University of Oxford,
“Palaeography and the Tracing of the Origins and History of a Bilingual Psalter (MS Oxford, Corpus Christi College 10)”
Katrin Kogman-Appel, University of Münster,
“Illustrated Books, their Makers and Owners in an Age of Migration”
Javier del Barco, Universidad Complutense de Madrid,
‘“From Northern Italy to Dublin: The Journey of a Hebrew Bible at the Chester Beatty Library”
12.30 – 13.30: Lunch Break
Provided for speakers and organisers only
13.30 – 15.00: Session II – Making and remaking
Introduced by Allison Boroff, Case Western Reserve University
Chaired by Sarah Frisbie, Case Western Reserve University
Leor Jacobi, Bar Ilan University,
“Bound in Catalonia: Jewish Bookbindings Produced for Christians as Historical Witnesses”
Hila Manor, Hebrew University of Jerusalem,
“The Long Lives of the Oldest Pair of Torah Finials”
Roni Cohen, Goethe University,
“Manuscripts, Gamblers, and Medieval Hebrew Hits”
15.00 – 15.30: Break
15.30 – 17.00: Session III – New lives of architecture
Introduced by Darren Helton, Case Western Reserve University
Chaired by Natalia Munoz-Rojas, The Courtauld
Ilia Rodov, Bar-Ilan University,
“ ‘A Time to Gather Stones’: Spolia, Sacredness, and Memory in Ashkenazi Synagogues”
Eva Frojmovic, University of Leeds,,
“A Second Life in the Museum: Jewish Tombstones After the Black Death”
Franziska Kleybolte, University of Münster,
“The Synagogue-Church of Santa María la Blanca in Toledo: A Site of Jewish-Christian Memory Between Entanglement and Disentanglement”
17.00 – 18.00: Drinks reception
Open to all
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Tuesday 20 May
10.00 – 11.30: Session IV – Collecting practices at large
Introduced by Olga Morgalyuk, The Courtauld
Chaired by Tess Artis, Case Western Reserve University
William Diebold, Reed College,
“The Darmstadt Haggadah’s Turbulent 1950s”
Abby Kornfeld, City University of New York
“The Róza Gomperz Endowment: Rethinking the Kaufmann Collection of Illuminated Hebrew Manuscripts”
Anna Nizza-Caplan, The Israel Museum,
“ ‘Accessible to All’: The Most Detailed Illustrated Manuscript of the Mishneh Torah”
11.30 – 11.45: Refreshment Break
Coffee and Tea provided
11.45 – 13.05: Curatorial Panel – Problems and Priorities: the acquisition and display of Jewish material culture in museums
Introduced by Sam Truman, Kress Fellow at The Courtauld
Response by Elizabeth Morrison, J. Paul Getty Museum
Simona di Nepi, Museum of Fine Arts Boston
Riva Arnold, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Alice Minter, Victoria & Albert Museum
13.05 – 13.30: Closing Remarks
Elina Gertsman, Case Western Reserve University
With the support of:
