The Return of the Jewish Volunteer from the Wars of Liberation to His Family Still Living in Accordance with Old Customs

Moritz Daniel Oppenheim is often regarded as the first modern Jewish painter. Unlike some of his contemporaries he did not convert to Christianity and did not hesitate to grapple with the subject of modern Jewish identity in his art. Born in Hanau, Germany, he became the first Jewish member of the Frankfurt Museum Society in 1825. Especially in the early part of his career, he painted religious subjects and portraits, including of the Rothschild family and Heinrich Heine.