The High Holidays

Bernard Picart

1725

Print depicting two scenes with French text under frames: top shows men in prayer shawls sitting while one man on central platform sounds a ram's horn. Bottom image shows men in prayer shawls sitting and standing in room with several lit candles.
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Between 1723 and 1737, illustrator Bernard Picart partnered with the Dutch bookseller, editor, and publisher Jean-Frédéric Bernard on Cérémonies et coutumes religieuses de tous les peuples du monde (Religious Ceremonies and Customs of All the Peoples of the World), that included more than 266 plates by Picart. It was the most famous encyclopedic work on religion of its time, and is considered the first global, comparative vision of religion. It was condemned by the Catholic Church but was a success with the public and was translated immediately into Dutch and later into English and German. It was reprinted many times. The book included depictions of Jewish religious practices in Amsterdam, focusing on the wealthy Sephardic community. Here, two scenes from the high holidays are depicted, (top) the blowing of the shofar (ram’s horn) on Rosh Hashanah and (bottom) men at prayer in a synagogue on Yom Kippur.

Credits

Bernard Picart, Blazen van de ramshoorn op joods nieuwjaar / Viering van Grote Verzoendag. Inwijding van de Portugese Synagoge te Amsterdam, 1675, 1725. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 5.

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