Painted in 1896 by Vittorio Corcos, a
young woman sits pensively on a
bench in this romantic oil entitled
"Sogni" (Dreams).

A Jewish funeral in Venice is the
subject of this 1784 engraving by
Giovanni del Pian.

An impressionist painting of the
interior of the synagogue at Livorno
in 1935 is the work of Ulvi Liegi.

that tell us a great deal about
how Jews lived in ancient
Rome and even what they
believed. All are decorated
with the Menorah, represent-
ing the 'Temple, which accord-
ing to curator Vivian Mann's
catalogue essay "expressed
belief in a messianic age when
the ancient center of Jewish
life would be rebuilt," and the
lbrah ark, which "represented
both the 'Temple and the
synagogue, the then rela-
tively new center of Jewish
communal and religious life."
Along with a menorah, the
sarcophagus also uses im-
agery from the period, in-
cluding Dionysiac figures
trampling grapes, symbolic of
belief in the afterlife.
After the fall of the Roman
Empire, visual artifacts are
rare until the 13th century
and the era of the city states,
the time of the Renaissance.

This era was marked by richly
illuminated Hebrew texts,
borrowing the native artistic
style of flowered borders and
animal figures surrounding a
coat of arms. The period also
introduces textiles, particu-
larly a curtain for the Tbrah
ark in Padua which mingles
Byzantine, Renaissance, and
Jewish motifs on a ruby col- .
ored knotted pile rug that
gives the appearance of an or-
nate oriental carpet.
Textiles in the form of ark
curtains and Tbrah binders
flourished during the ghetto
era as well. During this
period, Jews locked within
the walls of a segregated com-
munity concentrated on pro-
ducing finely crafted cere-
monial objects, depicting
specific themes, the giving of
the Law at Sinai, for instance,
or the implements of the an-
cient Temple. The textiles,

often signed and • dated by
Jewish women, include an in-
tricate lace binder with the
names of the maker's hus-
band, father and father-in-law
crocheted into the fabric.
Another extraordinary exam-
ple is the lbrah ark curtain by
Leah Ottolenghi in which the
tablets are surrounded with
Judaism's holiest sites and
symbols embroidered in a
pattern reminiscent of an
Amish quilt.
With the coming of eman-
cipation and in Italy, the
Risorgimento — the unifica-
tion of the city-states —
Italian Jews experimented
with the visual arts. Aside
from Modigliani and Carlo
Levi, who eventually turned
to writing, these artists are
represented in rarely seen ex-
amples. Vita D'Ancona, paint-
ing in the mid 19th century,
created the haunting interiors

and light of the 17th century
Dutch painters with present
day figures and furniture. In
the years between the wars,
Mario Cavaglierei painted
wealthy, land-owning, highly
cultivated Jewish families in
richly decorated interiors.
They were the Finzi-Continis
of Giorgio Bassani's book and
like them doomed. With the
coming of the racial laws in
1938 and the deportations, 23
of Cavaglierei's relatives
perished.
The exhibit also introduces
Margherita Sarfatti, a writer
and art critic who ran a salon,
became Mussolini's mistress,
and championed Fascist art.
According to Emily Braun,
the curator for the modern
period, Sarfatti was an "un-
fortunate and tragic figure
but great and important
nonetheless."
She converted to Catho-

licism in 1928 and maintained
that there was "no Jewish
question" in Italy. Sarfatti
fled to South America 10
years later, her idea of a
Fascist art which preserved
order through nationalism .
crushed by the realities of
'Ibtalitarianism.
Vivian Mann said that the
Museum's purpose in present-
ing this exhibit was "to show
the way in which a minority
culture can interact with a
majority culture, contribute
to it and be influenced by it,
and yet retain its separate
identity."
lb that end, "Gardens and
Ghettos" succeeds splendidly.
The show will remain at the
Jewish Museum, 1109 Fifth
Avenue, New York City until
February 1. It will then move
to the Palazzo dei Diamanti
in Ferrara, Italy from March
15 through June 15, 1990. 0

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

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