Born into a Bordeaux family with Western Sephardic roots, Jacques-Émile-Édouard Brandon studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and initially made his reputation with depictions of Christian subjects, particularly his series on the life of St. Bridget of Sweden. In the 1860s, he shifted markedly to Jewish themes, notably synagogue and classroom scenes, the Sabbath, and portrayals of rabbis with children. While Brandon’s style was academic, he did show his Scene in a Synagogue and other works at what came to be seen as the first Impressionist exhibition in Paris, in 1874.
Edouard Brandon’s painting of Amsterdam’s famous Portuguese Synagogue (1675) is set on the Ninth of Av, a fast day commemorating and mourning the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. Members of the…
In The Dead Class, the most famous of Kantor’s theater pieces from the 1970s, the main characters of the play are elderly men (who are to be understood as being dead), who return to their school desks…
Mourning activities, Thebes, Egypt, ca. 1380 BCE. Sitting on the ground and putting dust on the head are expressions of mourning, as in this mural showing a widow with the mummy of her husband…