Customer Reviews

Dreams of Subversion in Medieval Jewish Art and Literature

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I originally picked this book up at the College library, and I was so impressed with Epstein's work on this little volume that I immediately purchased it. As a student of Art History, I spend a lot of time combing through online as well as library archived journals for well-researched data on obscure symbolism. This book provided an excellent jumping-off point for branching out into alternate interpretation of medieval Jewish manuscripts.

The theme of the book is subversion, and Epstein demonstrates that for many of the common Christian symbols (such as the lion, the unicorn, and the medieval hunt)there were subtly opposing occurences in Jewish art. Epstein also ventures into less commonly known symbols, such as the elephant and the hare. Each chapter is devoted to a different symbol, its Christian meanings, and then an in-depth explaination of its Jewish re-interpretation. The cases are painstakingly researched and Epstein's bibliography is in and of itself a valuable research source.

Although each chapter of this book could potentially be its own entire thesis, as a whole it makes a wonderful short introduction to the study of medieval Jewish iconography.

The prophets of ancient Israel carried divinely inspired messages to guide their people and put fear in the hearts of their enemies, providing rich symbolism for the rabbis and scholars that succeeded them to interpret and weave into the core of our religious laws and literary traditions. They passionately labored to build and maintain a distinctive, timeless identity for the Jewish people amidst the cultures that hosted, but mostly tolerated them. Given their historical status as an eternal minority, Jews were relentlessly surrounded by the social and political effects of omnipresent Christian polemics and iconography that provoked artistic expressions of subtle visual dissidence.

With 'Dreams of Subversion in Medieval Art and Literature', Marc Michael Epstein understands this in depth from multiple religious and ethnographic perspectives. Examining the animal and decorative symbolism that accompanies the texts in medieval manuscripts, Dr. Epstein encourages us to see between the lines of both words and images of this powerful, telling artistic genre. His clear analyses, well-chosen illustrations and thoughtful writing opens a window for us into the mindful, yet slyly irreverent soul of the Medieval Jew, who after all, may not be so different from ourselves. Though I've long been interested in the art and craft of medieval illuminated manuscripts, the insights provided and questions asked here made this book an absorbing read and an important reference worthy of its prominent place in my personal library.Dreams of Subversion in Medieval Jewish Art and Literature