\nof 1,600 drawings, prints, etchings, and lithographs from the 17th to the 20th century encompasses scenes from Jewish life and portrays
\nJewish personalities, mostly from Britain. Yet, it also includes ethnographic prints of Jews
\nfrom Northern Africa, Turkey and the Middle East. These depictions of ethnographic
\n\u2018types\u2019, made to bring the customs and costumes of far-away lands to a Western
\naudience, reveal aspects of the West\u2019s continuing fascination with the
\n\u2018Orient\u2019. <\/p>\n
![\"image\"](\"https:\/\/jewishmuseum.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/tumblr_inline_ovx28kJpuY1rivt1t_540.jpg\")
<\/figure>\nLeft: Drawing of a Turkish Jew, c. 1830 (AR 2388); Right: Jeune Juive<\/i>, wood engraving by Verdeil from an original by Pauquet, 1841-1850 (AR 45)<\/small><\/p>\n
For centuries, people in Europe have been fascinated by the
\narea around the Eastern and Southern seaboard of the Mediterranean, the \u2018Orient\u2019
\nor \u2018Levant\u2019. This was largely due to the origins of Christianity in Judaism in
\nthe Middle East.<\/p>\n
During the Middle Ages and in Early Modernity the Orient was
\nseen both as a political and cultural threat to the Christian West and as an
\nattraction, since Muslims and Jews brought customs, art, poetry, philosophy,
\nand sciences to the West.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the 17th\u00a0century, with the increase in
\ntrade with the Ottoman Empire travelling became easier, painters and authors
\nvisited Turkey and Persia and reported about these areas. The Ottoman Empire
\nheld a particular fascination, and a \u2018craze\u2019 for all things Turkish
\n(turqueries) matched the \u2018craze\u2019 for all things Chinese (chinoiseries). Artists
\nand diplomats reported about their travels, trying to capture the habits and
\ndresses of that multicultural empire which included many Jewish people.<\/p>\n
The earliest representations of a Jewish woman and man from
\nthe Ottoman Empire in the Rubens Collection are reproductions from the book by Byzantian
\nGreek scholar Laonicos Chalcocondyles, Histoire
\ng<\/i>\u00e9n<\/i>\u00e9rale
\ndes Turcs<\/i> (General History of the Turks) from 1662.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In fact, they are even Femme juive d\u2019Adrinople <\/i>(modern day Edirne), engaging, 1620 (AR 2360.1)<\/small><\/p>\n In the accompanying text Chalcocondyles emphasised the diversity Marchand juif<\/i>\u00a0engraving, 1620 (AR 2359.1)<\/small><\/p>\n The Jewish merchant in the same book is described as wearing While his descriptions of the costumes are rather matter of In his dedication to the Duke of Richelieu, Chalcocondyles Nearly a century later, in 1714, Charles de Ferriol, French Interestingly, the Rubens Collection includes several Femme juive en habit The first image shows a woman dressed in a long buttoned Demoiselle juive en In the second picture the coat is made of a stripy fabric. A In the 19th century, an even greater number of Eug\u00e8ne Delacroix (1798-1863) was one of those artists who From the beginning, Juive d\u2019Alger,\u00a0<\/i>etching by Eugene Delacroix, 1833 (AR 40)<\/small><\/p>\n The Mus\u00e9e Delacroix the above print represents a Jewish bride in the company of her servant, waiting after being dressed up. While he was working from direct encounters One of the most In the 20th century, Jews from the Middle East The concept that these people had Moroccan Jew <\/i>by E M Lilien, 1909 (AR 1997)<\/small><\/p>\n A co-founder of the school, Austrian illustrator and by Dr Kathrin Pieren, Collections Manager and Curator The museum\u2019s Rubens Collection of 1,600 drawings, prints, etchings, and lithographs from the 17th to the 20th century encompasses scenes from Jewish life and portrays Jewish personalities, mostly from Britain. Yet, it also includes ethnographic prints of Jews from Northern Africa, Turkey and the Middle East. These […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[301],"tags":[139,146,171,173,172,170,174],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\nolder as Chalcocondyles copied them from the book by Nicol\u00f2 de Nicolai, Le Navigationi et Viaggi nella Turchia<\/i>
\n(The Navigations and Travels in Turkey) from 1568. The author was also upfront
\nabout the illustrations being based on antique medals, descriptions of
\ntravellers to the area and good writers, so reservations regarding the
\nauthenticity of the costumes and descriptions are therefore clearly due. <\/p>\n![\"image\"](\"https:\/\/jewishmuseum.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/tumblr_inline_ovx2r2FIT21rivt1t_540.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n
\nof ethnic groups in both Constantinople and Adrianopolis, distinct by their
\nrespective dress. According to his description Jewish women wore a headscarf
\nthat also covered the neck and they carried a jewel on a ribbon and, according
\nto their means, a gold chain, but no other jewellery or rings. <\/p>\n![\"image\"](\"https:\/\/jewishmuseum.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/tumblr_inline_ovx2tjzrnm1rivt1t_540.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n
\na long garment similar to the Greeks and Levantins but a distinctive yellow
\nturban. He would have carried sheets with him to sell on the street. <\/p>\n
\nfact, the author betrayed his negative prejudices against the Jews when
\nreferring to them as \u2018a miserable nation\u2019 of outcasts doomed to wonder the
\nearth. In the context of his publication this negative judgment does not come
\nas a surprise.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\npresented the content of the book as being a history of the action and customs
\nof the Turks whose \u2018impiety\u2019 and \u2018malice\u2019 he contrasted with the duke\u2019s
\n\u2018integrity\u2019 and \u2018zeal for the real true and only religion\u2019. His exclusive view
\nof Christianity clearly coloured his view of Islam as well as Judaism.<\/p>\n
\nambassador in Constantinople, published a book with engravings made on the
\nbasis of paintings by Jean-Baptiste Van Mour and others entitled Recueil de cent estampes repr\u00e9sentants
\ndiff\u00e9rentes nations du Levant<\/i> (Collection of one hundred prints
\nrepresenting the different nations of the Levant).It was long used as a
\nprincipal source of information on the Ottoman Empire not only by scholars but
\nalso by artists and writers who were inspired by it and plagiarised it in many
\nparts of Western Europe.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nversions of the same print with subtle changes. These variants illustrate how
\nlong these prints remained in circulation and how they must have been altered
\nto accommodate changes in fashion.<\/p>\n![\"image\"](\"https:\/\/jewishmuseum.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/tumblr_inline_ovx2ygLjDg1rivt1t_540.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n
\nde c\u00e9r\u00e9monie<\/i>, engraving by G Scotin, c.1714 (AR 2372)<\/small><\/p>\n
\npatterned coat, worn over a skirt and wrapped in an overcoat or stole. The
\nsecond print, dating from the end of the 18th\u00a0century, was
\nreproduced in a book by printer Theodorum Vietro, Raccolta di 100 Stampe, che rappresentano Figure, ed Abiti di varie
\nNazioni\u2026<\/i> (Collection of 100 Prints Representing Figures, and Dresses of
\nVarious Nations\u2026) from 1790.<\/p>\n![\"image\"](\"https:\/\/jewishmuseum.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/tumblr_inline_ovx31bmaGy1rivt1t_540.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n
\nhabit de noces<\/i>, engraving from an original by Franciscus Smith, 1783-1791 (AR 2377)<\/small><\/p>\n
\ncurtain in a matching colour now covers the window on the left and the view
\nfrom the window on the right has been omitted, making the space more intimate; the
\ndesign of the rug has shifted from geometric to floral. Moreover, the woman\u2019s
\nface has changed, her gaze becoming more direct and less contemplative. This
\nmight be due to the fact that the ceremonial dress in the earlier print has now
\nmore specifically become a wedding dress!<\/p>\n
\nartists represented the \u2018Orient\u2019 and the focus shifted to other countries, partly
\ndue to power shifts. As the Ottoman Empire declined, Arabs became the
\nstereotypical \u2018oriental\u2019. Just like earlier artists had travelled to Italy on
\ntheir Grand Tour, the artists of the day went to the Middle East and Northern
\nAfrica. However, most of them were still happy to create the Orient from the comfort
\nof their European studios, collecting artefacts, prints and basing themselves
\non travel accounts. <\/p>\n
\nactually got to spend time abroad. As with many other artists his fascination
\nwith the Orient was rooted in literature, including the works of Dante
\nAlighieri, Torquato Tasso and Lord Byron. He finally travelled to Morocco in
\n1832 upon invitation by King Louis-Philippe who sent a delegation to the Sultan
\nin the face of an insurgency in the Oran region (Algeria).\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDelacroix was fascinated and he considered Tangiers \u2018a place conceived for
\npainters\u2026 there is real beauty here, not the beauty vaunted in fashionable
\nworks\u2019. He spent six months in Northern Africa. During that time he filled
\nseven large sketchbooks and created an album of 18 watercolours. A month after
\nhis arrival he had the chance to attend a Jewish wedding, on which he based his
\nJewish Wedding in Morocco<\/i> (1841) now
\nin the Louvre.<\/p>\n![\"image\"](\"https:\/\/jewishmuseum.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/tumblr_inline_ovx4oetAGr1rivt1t_540.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n
\nwith his subjects, many other artists of the time relied on imagination and
\nhearsay when depicting another private female space, the harem.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\npopular subjects among orientalist painters at the time, it was represented as
\nabundant with exotic beauty and erotic undercurrents, telling us more about
\nWestern ideas of the Orient than actual life in those countries.<\/p>\n
\nheld a specific fascination for some Jewish people in Western Europe. At the very
\nbeginning of the century, the German Jewish cultural magazine Ost und West<\/i> published illustrated
\narticles on Jews in Central Asia and the Yemen and it also contained images of
\nJews from Northern Africa and Palestine.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\npreserved some authentic characteristics of the ancient Hebrews had implications
\nfor the Zionist movement. At the Bezalel School of Art, founded in Jerusalem in
\n1906 to develop a Jewish style in art, the drawing of Jewish \u2018types\u2019 was a
\nregular practice. <\/p>\n![\"image\"](\"https:\/\/jewishmuseum.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/tumblr_inline_ovx4wjxFF01rivt1t_540.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n
\nprintmaker Ephraim Moses Lilien (1874-1925) travelled to Palestine several
\ntimes between 1906 and 1918. This portrait is one of several Northern African
\nJewish portraits in the Rubens Collection he drew, most likely during one of
\nhis trips. Different from the earlier representations described above, his
\nportraits are less concerned with dress and focus on differences in facial
\nfeatures and expression instead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"