Description
Book SynopsisDemonstrating 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
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"Clearly, this book is only the beginning of a series of works dedicated to the study of material links between medieval Jewish and Christian communities and of the interdependence they unveil. And we can only hope that its successors will keep up the high standards of writing and methodological expertise established in Cultural Exchange by Joseph Shatzmiller."--Andor Kelenhegyi, European Review of History
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
