Gardens and Ghettos

The Art of Jewish Life in Italy

Vivian B. Mann

• Publisher: University of California Press
• Year: 2023
• eBook ISBN: 9780520328655
• Edition: 1
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: World History
• Index: History

Jews arrived in the Republic of Rome some time in the second or first century B.C.E. They soon formed their own community which absorbed Roman cultural forms but was able to maintain its identity and integrity. For more than twenty centuries, the Italian peninsula has been home to the heirs of this ancient minority community, whose culture is a blend of traditional Jewish content with Roman, then Italian cultural forms. Gardens and Ghettos: The Art of Jewish Life in Italy is the title of an exhibition curated by Vivian B. Mann and Emily Braun for The Jewish Museum, New York (September 1989-January 1990), an exhibition that explores the extraordinarily rich artistic legacy of Italian Jewry. This book, like the exhibition itself, focuses on four time periods: the Empire, the Era of the City States (1300-1550), the Era of the Ghettos (1550-1750), and the period since the Risorgimento. Artifacts and architecture are generously represented along with fine arts. Essays by prominent scholars introduce us to the historical and cultural context of a splendid array of works, from ancient Roman architectural fragments and gold glass to illuminated manuscripts and printed books from the Renaissance, baroque ceremonial textiles and silver, and paintings, graphics, and sculpture of the modern era. The many illustrations illuminate the art and life of a minority community in dynamic tension with dominant society and show the vibrant, ongoing contribution by Jews to the arts of Italy.

This title was originally published in 1989.
Jews arrived in the Republic of Rome some time in the second or first century B.C.E. They soon formed their own community which absorbed Roman cultural forms but was able to maintain its identity and integrity. For more than twenty centuries, the Italian

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• CONTENTS
• LENDERS TO THE EXHIBITION
• DONORS TO THE EXHIBITION
• HONORARY COMMITTEE
• FOREWORD
• PREFACE
• ACKNOWLEDGMENTSmany sources including government agencies, with grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. From Italy we were very kindly rewarded with help from the Foreign Ministry and the City of Ferrara as well as the Region of Lazio, the City of Rome, and the Istituto per i Beni Artistici Culturali e Naturali della Regione Emilia-Romagna. Several other donors participated in the project and they are listed on page viii of this catalogue. I thank all of the individuals, corporations, foundations and government agencies whose generosity provided the means to create, in Gardens and Ghettos, new scholarship, a catalogue of lasting value, and a unique exhibition experience.
• AT THE INTERSECTION OF CULTURES: THE HISTORICAL LEGACY OF ITALIAN JEWRY
• THE JEWS IN ITALY FROM THE RISORGIMENTO TO THE REPUBLIC
• THE ARTS OF JEWISH ITALY
• JEWISH ART AND CULTURE IN ANCIENT ITALY
• HEBREW MANUSCRIPT ILLUMINATION IN ITALY HYPERLINK \l "noteT_1_6" 1
• JEWISH CEREMONIAL ART IN THE ERA OF THE GHETTOS
• FROM THE RISORGIMENTO TO THE RESISTANCE: ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF JEWISH ARTISTS IN ITALY
• A MILLENNIUM OF HEBREW POETRY IN ITALY IN MEMORY OF DAN PAGIS
• CATALOGUE OF THE EXHIBITION
• BIOGRAPHIES OF PAINTERS AND SCULPTORS
• GLOSSARY
• SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
• CONTRIBUTORS TO THE CATALOGUE
• PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS