The portrayal of Jews in art
Through his own art, artist Jacob Pichhadze sought to convey his impressions of Jews and Judaism, which countered negative stereotypes.
Recently in The Jewish Post & News, Professor Lionel Steiman shared his insights on the history of antisemitism, which he also discussed at the Lanny Remis Speakers Forum.
As he explains, over time and around the world antisemitism has taken different forms, such as the portrayal of Jews as having stereotypical characteristics.
Numerous types of stereotypes of Jews can be referred to. As an example, Lionel notes that “Jews were depicted in various art forms as devil-like creatures, with horns and tails and cloven feet.”
In addition to stereotypes about the physical features of Jews, there have also been stereotypes about their character and intentions. For example, Yaëlle Azagury traced and explained the motif of the ‘beautiful Jewess’ (“la belle Juive”), an evolving trope that has been depicted in Western literature and the visual arts. As Yaëlle explains, “la belle Juive became conflated with the image of the femme fatale… The Jewess was seen as threatening because she was Jewish, but also because she was a woman with voracious desires and uncommon ambitions.”
This trope suggests that the Jewess is “sly, coquettish, overall sexual, dangerous and destructive.
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