Jewish Images in the Christian Church
Art as the Mirror of the Jewish-Christian Conflict, 200-1250 CE
Henry N. Claman
This careful analysis of a millennium of Christian art outlines the path by which Christians reinterpreted the Hebrew Scriptures to prove they foretold the ascendancy of Christianity. Starting with a solid introduction to the origins of Christianity and the beginnings of Christian art in the catacombs of Rome, Claman skillfully demonstrates the development of the anti-Jewish message of Christian art. The study culminates with analyses of the majestic cathedral at Chartres, the public burning of the Talmud in Paris in 1248, and the expulsion of the Jews from France and England.
With the third century frescoes in the catacombs of Rome, public art began to illustrate the doctrine of supersessionism. Christian marble sarcophagi, church mosaics, and statues, and brilliant Gothic stained glass showed how Christianity completely reinterpreted the Old Testament to indicate that it predicted and validated Christianity.
Henry N. Claman is distinguished professor of Medicine and Immunology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. His life-long love of art has led him to visit most of the works described in this book.
Advance praise for Jewish Images in the Christian Church: Art as the Mirror of the Jewish-Christian Conflict, 200-1250 CE:
Dr. Claman’s interest in the institutional, social, and political effects of artworks is a welcome change from art historians’ frequent constriction of attention to artwork to an artwork’s formal qualities and place in a history of style.—Margaret R. Miles, dean and vice president for Academic Affairs, Graduate Theological Union
[Jewish Images in the Christian Church: Art as the Mirror of the Jewish-Christian Conflict, 200-1250 CE] bridges two fields of study usually treated in relative isolation from one another…. Being interdisciplinary as well as interreligious is an extraordinary strength of this work…. [I]t is so clearly written that a novice could follow the content and argumentation with relative ease. It thus becomes a better book than some produced by so-called experts.—Michael J. Cook, Sol & Arlene Bronstein Professor of Judeo-Christian Studies, Hebrew Union College
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