The Artless Jew
Subtitle: Medieval and Modern Affirmations and Denials of the Visual.
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Published: April 17, 2000
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 248
ISBN-13: 9780691010434
Subjects: Judaism - Rituals & Practice; Religion - Judaism; Judaism; Special Subjects In Art; Ten commandments; Religion; Judaism and art; Judaism - General; Jewish - General; Art and Architecture; Art styles not limited by date; European History; History / Jewish; Jewish Studies; Philosophy; History of doctrines; Fine Arts; Art, Jewish; Images; Jewish aesthetics
First sentence: In 1992, Marc Chagall was in Moscow and Erwin R. Goodenough was at Oxford University.
Description: "Conventional wisdom holds that Judaism is indifferent or even suspiciously hostile to the visual arts due to the Second Commandment's prohibition on creating "graven images," the dictates of monotheism, and historical happenstance.

Kalman Bland synthesizes evidence from medieval Jewish philosophy, mysticism, poetry, biblical commentaries, travelogues, and law, concluding that premodern Jewish intellectuals held a positive, liberal understanding of the Second Commandment and did, in fact, articulate a certain Jewish aesthetic."--BOOK JACKET.