DOI article:
Puzio, Maksymilian: Wilhelma Wachtla "Pożegnanie z Golusem"
Citation link:https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/modus2020/0290
of Judaism and Christianity.126 For Jews, Jesus was a person brought up in Juda-
ism, who followed its laws and promoted them among the “Gentiles.”127 As
one of the Jewish teachers, Jesus was not interested in destroying Judaism, as
emphasized by the nineteenth-century advocates of the Christian-Jewish rap-
prochement. The works of Maurycy Gottlieb (Christ Teaching in Capernaum,
1879, National Museum in Warsaw) or Max Liebermann (Jesus in the Tempie,
1879, Kunsthalle in Hamburg) were intended to serve this very purpose, and
to indicate that the pogroms of Jews were actually aimed at religious brothers,
to a lesser extent emphasizing Chrisfs mercy Artists such as Marek Antokolski
emphasized the Jewish features of Christ in their works - an aquiline nose and
curly hair - and depicted him in a skullcap or a tallit (as in Wilhelm Wachtefs
lithographs), emphasizing the Jewish origin of the Christian Messiah, but also
the roots of Christian religion. Antokolskis depiction of Jesus at trial was meant
to symbolize the passing of judgment by Christians against their own Messiah and
his doctrine of mercy towards one’s neighbours. Wachtel also emphasized this by
displaying the wounds from crucifixion. The persistence of the theme of Christ
in Jewish and Israeli art is evidenced, among others, in The White Crucifixion by
Marc Chagall (1938, Art Institute in Chicago), Reuven Rubins Meeting (1922, The
Pheonix Insurance Company Ltd. collection in Tel Aviv), Untitled (Crucifixion) by
Moshe Castel (ca. 1940, Moshe Castel Art Museum in Ma ale Adumim), Marcel
Jancos Genocide (1945, Janco-Dada Museum in Ein Hod) or The Last Supper by
Adi Nes (1999, The Israel Museum in Jerusalem). Renata Piątkowska, who ana-
lysed the role of Christian iconography in Jewish art, emphasized its universalism
and ease of reading the message by non-Jews, drawing attention to the plight
of the Jewish community, and evoking sympathy for the aggrieved.128
The history of the Jewish community, its traditions, rituals, biblical events
and life in the diaspora formed the followers of Judaism as one group despite its
diversity and dispersion. According to Simon Dubnow, Jews achieved the highest
level of nationality development and were at the cultural stage where, without
institutional restrictions (such as their own State), they could make their cultural
assets available to mankind.129 In this respect,in Dubnows viewthey constituted
a unique group, as they were the only nation to survive the loss of their statehood
and their territory that nevertheless was able to develop their own culture and
raise it to a higher level. Deliberations conducted by many thinkers at the turn
of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries were aimed at creating a group that,
despite their differences in language, culture and identity, would be able to unitę
in their Jewishness and create their own State. Through his series of lithographs,
Wilhelm Wachtel communicates acceptance for the Zionist vision, in which
the common element is the transnational history of Jews, fuli of violence and
stigmatization, as well as the attachment to religious rituals and the main beliefs
of Judaism.
126 For the analysis of the figurę of Jesus in Jewish art, see: ibidem; A. Mendelsohn, Behold
the Man. Jesus in Israeli Art, <https://www.imj.org.il/en/exhibitions/behold-man> (accessed
on 29.08.2020).
127 Nevertheless, it should be stressed that for rabbinic Judaism, Jesus is now a prophet, whereas
his messianic message is considered heresy.
128 R. Piątkowska, Między wyobraźnią a pamięcią, p. 311.
129 Ibidem, p. 40.
290
ARTICLES
Maksymilian Puzio
ism, who followed its laws and promoted them among the “Gentiles.”127 As
one of the Jewish teachers, Jesus was not interested in destroying Judaism, as
emphasized by the nineteenth-century advocates of the Christian-Jewish rap-
prochement. The works of Maurycy Gottlieb (Christ Teaching in Capernaum,
1879, National Museum in Warsaw) or Max Liebermann (Jesus in the Tempie,
1879, Kunsthalle in Hamburg) were intended to serve this very purpose, and
to indicate that the pogroms of Jews were actually aimed at religious brothers,
to a lesser extent emphasizing Chrisfs mercy Artists such as Marek Antokolski
emphasized the Jewish features of Christ in their works - an aquiline nose and
curly hair - and depicted him in a skullcap or a tallit (as in Wilhelm Wachtefs
lithographs), emphasizing the Jewish origin of the Christian Messiah, but also
the roots of Christian religion. Antokolskis depiction of Jesus at trial was meant
to symbolize the passing of judgment by Christians against their own Messiah and
his doctrine of mercy towards one’s neighbours. Wachtel also emphasized this by
displaying the wounds from crucifixion. The persistence of the theme of Christ
in Jewish and Israeli art is evidenced, among others, in The White Crucifixion by
Marc Chagall (1938, Art Institute in Chicago), Reuven Rubins Meeting (1922, The
Pheonix Insurance Company Ltd. collection in Tel Aviv), Untitled (Crucifixion) by
Moshe Castel (ca. 1940, Moshe Castel Art Museum in Ma ale Adumim), Marcel
Jancos Genocide (1945, Janco-Dada Museum in Ein Hod) or The Last Supper by
Adi Nes (1999, The Israel Museum in Jerusalem). Renata Piątkowska, who ana-
lysed the role of Christian iconography in Jewish art, emphasized its universalism
and ease of reading the message by non-Jews, drawing attention to the plight
of the Jewish community, and evoking sympathy for the aggrieved.128
The history of the Jewish community, its traditions, rituals, biblical events
and life in the diaspora formed the followers of Judaism as one group despite its
diversity and dispersion. According to Simon Dubnow, Jews achieved the highest
level of nationality development and were at the cultural stage where, without
institutional restrictions (such as their own State), they could make their cultural
assets available to mankind.129 In this respect,in Dubnows viewthey constituted
a unique group, as they were the only nation to survive the loss of their statehood
and their territory that nevertheless was able to develop their own culture and
raise it to a higher level. Deliberations conducted by many thinkers at the turn
of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries were aimed at creating a group that,
despite their differences in language, culture and identity, would be able to unitę
in their Jewishness and create their own State. Through his series of lithographs,
Wilhelm Wachtel communicates acceptance for the Zionist vision, in which
the common element is the transnational history of Jews, fuli of violence and
stigmatization, as well as the attachment to religious rituals and the main beliefs
of Judaism.
126 For the analysis of the figurę of Jesus in Jewish art, see: ibidem; A. Mendelsohn, Behold
the Man. Jesus in Israeli Art, <https://www.imj.org.il/en/exhibitions/behold-man> (accessed
on 29.08.2020).
127 Nevertheless, it should be stressed that for rabbinic Judaism, Jesus is now a prophet, whereas
his messianic message is considered heresy.
128 R. Piątkowska, Między wyobraźnią a pamięcią, p. 311.
129 Ibidem, p. 40.
290
ARTICLES
Maksymilian Puzio