Elisheva Revel-Neher

Abstract

Elisheva Revel-Neher is today an acknowledged leader in the field of medieval Jewish art from its origins in the period of destruction of the Second Temple to the Renaissance, with a special emphasis on Byzantine art. In her research as well as in her teaching, Elisheva has always been concerned with relationship between Jewish and Christian art and various interpretations that the two religions applied to the same symbols. Parallel to her work on her doctorate, Elisheva had begun to work on image of the Jew in Byzantine art. This research led Elisheva to one of her major books, The Image of the Jew in Byzantine Art (1992), in which she revealed a surprising fact: despite the strong anti-Semitic tone of Byzantine theology, and despite contemporary anti-Semitic caricatures of Jews in Western art, Byzantine art continued to depict the Jews in a neutral way that shows an almost philo-Semitic attitude. Keywords: Byzantine art; Christian art; Elisheva Revel-Neher; Jewish art; renaissance; Second Temple; The Image of the Jew in Byzantine Art