Jewish Studies

The Center for Jewish Art at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem was founded by Professor Bezalel Narkiss in 1979. Today, the Center's archives and collections constitute the largest and most comprehensive body of information on Jewish art in existence, with approximately 180,000 pictures, sketches and documents. The digitization of the Index is carried out in cooperation with the National Library of Israel and the Judaica Division of the Harvard Library. The project is funded by the Prime Minister's Office ("Landmarks" Program), Harvard Library Judaica Division's Judaica Book Fund endowments established by David B. Keidan and the Rothschild Foundation (Hanadiv) Europe. Over 200,000 items have been digitized and are now freely accessible to the public.

The light that emanates from the twelve stained glass windows bathes the Abbell Synagogue at the Hadassah University Medical Center in a special glow. The sun filters through the brilliant colors of the stained glass capturing their radiance. Even in the misty haze of a cloudy day, Chagall's genius transforms time and space.

With the introduction of portraiture and early street photography, the people of the Holy Land later became subjects in their own right, yet their modes of representation largely remained tied to common Oriental and religious themes. This exhibition focuses on these modes of representation, as it presents the role of people in nineteenth-century Holy Land photography and the ways in which their visual representations met or challenged nineteenth-century conventions about the Holy Land. It also brings back to life the faces of local inhabitants otherwise lost to history.

The Complete Guide to Art in Israel, listing thousands of artists, is being built here. You can already browse through a partial list and home pages with detailed biographies and pictures of the work of Israeli artists.