Idolizing Pictures

'Julius's scholarship is impressive and entertainingly flamboyant' - The Times 'Highly stimulating . . . the author presents his case with admirable forensic skill' - Art Review 'A beautifully readable and concise argument about Jewish art' - The Hampstead and Highgate Express Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Exodus 20:4 In this ground-breaking book Anthony Julius derives a Jewish aesthetic from the Second Commandment. This prohibition of idolatry is not just an injunction against idol worshipping, but a call to idol breaking; it promotes a creative iconoclasm which exposes through irony inflated claims about art. Julius identifies and celebrates those Jewish works of art which by their irony subvert artistic and political idolatry. Idolizing Pictures is a manifesto for Jewish art.