Jewish art challenges the taboo of Jesus

THE WASHINGTON POST

Marc Chagall’s “Yellow Crucifixion” shows the suffering of Jewish Holocaust victims through the image of Jesus Christ as a Jew. (Avshalom Avital/The Israel Museum)

ISRAEL---Jews have traditionally shunned Jesus and his gospel. And while the Holy Land might be his accepted birthplace, for Jews in the modern state of Israel there is often resistance to learning about or even acknowledging Christianity. The sculpture, titled “Christ Before the People’s Court,” would not be out of place in a church in Rome. The sculpture, created by Russian Jewish artist Mark Antokolsky in 1876, is part of a collection of more than 150 artworks by 40 Jewish and Israeli artists who have used Christian imagery to challenge long-held taboos in both communities. Israeli Museum: "Behold the Man: Jesus in Israeli Art" (Through April 16, 2017) [link]

"Christ Before the People’s Court” (1875) by Russian Jewish artist Mark Antokolsky

Israeli artist Adi Nes’s depiction of Leonardo da Vinci’s “Last Supper” (1999), 935 3/8 by 57 1/8 inch; substitutes Jesus’s apostles with Israeli soldiers. (Elie Posner/The Israel Museum)