PerloveHISTART 393 / JUDAIC 317 / RCORE 334: Holy Land in Jewish, Christian, Islamic Culture
Winter 2015
James McBey
The Advance on Jerusalem -- Wadi Ali (Second Palestine Set, No. 4)
etching on paper
8 in x 14 in (20.32 cm x 35.56 cm);14 in x 19 1/16 in (35.56 cm x 48.42 cm)
Gift of Carl Fredric Clarke
Marc Chagall
The Bible: The People of Israel
etching on paper
13 3/16 in x 17 1/16 in (33.5 cm x 43.34 cm)
Museum Purchase
Marten van Heemskerck
St. Peter Baptising at Jerusalem
pen and brown ink on cream paper
8 x 10 3/4 in. (20.3 x 27.3 cm);18 1/8 x 22 3/16 in. (45.88 x 56.2 cm);14 3/8 x 16 15/16 in. (36.51 x 43.02 cm)
Museum Purchase
Francesco Cincinato
The Entry of Christ into Jerusalem
pen and brown ink with brown wash
8 ⅛ in x 12 ⅛ in (20.64 cm x 30.8 cm)
Gift through the Estate of Edward Sonnenschein
Laurent de La Hyre
Battle Between the Christians and the Saracens, a scene from Torquato Tasso, "La Gerusalemme Liberata"
black and white chalk on brown paper, laid down
11 15/16 in. x 16 1/4 in. ( 30.3 cm x 41.3 cm )
Purchased from the Estate of Edward Sonnenschein
Laurent de La Hyre
A Scene from 'La Gerusalemme Liberata:' Tancred and Clorinda
black and white chalk on brown paper, laid down
11 ½ in x 15 ¾ in (29.21 cm x 40.01 cm);22 3/16 in x 28 3/16 in (56.36 cm x 71.6 cm)
Purchased from the Estate of Edward Sonnenschein
Laurent de La Hyre
A Scene from 'La Gerusalemme Liberata:' Tancred Mourns Clorinda
black and white chalk on brown paper, laid down
11 ¾ in x 16 ⅜ in (29.85 cm x 41.59 cm);22 3/16 in x 28 3/16 in (56.36 cm x 71.6 cm)
Purchased from the Estate of Edward Sonnenschein
A. R. Penck
Snow in Jerusalem, from the portfolio "Expedition to the Holyland"
aquatint on Arches vellum paper
29 5/8 x 41 7/8 in. (75.2 x 106.3 cm)
Museum purchase made possible by a gift from Helmut Stern
A. R. Penck
The Opposition Want to Overthrow the Government, from 'Expedition to the Holylan
two-color screenprint on Arches vellum paper
29 11/16 x 41 7/8 in. (75.3 x 106.3 cm)
Museum purchase made possible by a gift from Helmut Stern
Francis Frith
View at Hebron
albumen print on paper
12 1/2 in x 17 1/4 in (31.7 cm x 43.9 cm);14 in x 18 in (35.56 cm x 45.72 cm)
Gift of Frederick P. and Amy McCombs Currier
Francis Frith
Convent of Mar-Saba, Near Jerusalem
albumen print on paper
12 1/2 in x 17 5/16 in (31.8 cm x 44 cm);14 in x 18 in (35.56 cm x 45.72 cm);12 5/8 in x 17 3/8 in (32 cm x 44.2 cm);6 1/2 in x 9 1/16 in (16.5 cm x 23 cm)
Gift of Frederick P. and Amy McCombs Currier
Francis Frith
Absalom's Tomb, Jerusalem
albumen print on paper
17 1/8 in x 12 5/8 in (43.5 cm x 32.1 cm);18 in x 14 in (45.72 cm x 35.56 cm);17 1/8 in x 12 5/8 in (43.5 cm x 32.1 cm);8 1/4 in x 6 1/8 in (20.9 cm x 15.5 cm)
Gift of Frederick P. and Amy McCombs Currier
Throughout history fascinating images of Jerusalem were created in art and architecture by Jews, Christians and Muslims. This course investigates these images from the early modern period through the 21st century, an extended period which witnessed intense interest in the city from a religious, political, and romantic perspective. We will study paintings, prints, maps, architecture and photography, as well as contemporary installation art. While Jerusalem occupied the very center of the world in t-shaped maps of the middle ages, the city long remained the focus of attention for Christians, Jews, and Muslims who sought to literally or symbolically regain the sacred city with its famous religious sites. Renaissance Popes imagined Rome as the “New Jerusalem.” Christian rulers vainly attempted to launch crusades, now and then, from the fifteenth through the seventeenth centuries.
Religious scholars, both Jewish and Christian, and European architects, continuously sought to reconstruct an “authentic” image of the ancient city and Temple in order to better understand the biblical events of the past. Many subsequent works of architecture such as churches and synagogues, including the Sistine Chapel, were inspired by the desire to re-create Solomon’s Temple. Early modern artists often depicted the Holy Land and the Temple of Jerusalem in the backgrounds of paintings and prints portraying biblical subjects. Moreover, Christians, Jews, and Muslims embarked upon pilgrimages to Jerusalem to renew their faith. In fulfillment of envisioned events of the End of Days, Christians, Jews, and Muslims focused upon Jerusalem as the site for these mystical events. European travelers were attracted by the exotic landscape and people of this region in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and Jewish settlers of the early 20th century viewed Palestine as an ancient homeland of refuge from persecution. All of these diverse motivations contributed to the creation of splendid works of art and architecture