SPECIAL SYMPOSIUM AT YU MUSEUM AND METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART WILL SHED FURTHER LIGHT ON JEWS AND CHRISTIANS IN MEDIEVAL PERIOD
30 October 2008
States News Service
A two-day symposium, 'Treasured Possession: Jews and Christians in a Medieval City,' co-sponsored by the Yeshiva University Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, will look at various aspects of medieval culture Nov 5-6. The special symposium is in conjunction with 'Erfurt: Jewish Treasure from Medieval Ashkenaz' on view until Jan. 29 at the YU Museum, the only North American venue for this exhibition of medieval gold and silver jewelry, tableware, and rare coins, culled from a personal treasure hoard.
The first part of the symposium, on Nov. 5 at the YU Museum, will feature a lecture, 'Sefer Hasidim: A Brief Talk on a Strange Book from Nowhere,' by Haym Soloveitchik, an expert on Jewish medieval history, a distinguished Talmudist and the Merkin Family Professor of Jewish History and Literature at Yeshiva University. There will also be a performance of medieval music by Duo Marchand, consisting of Marcia Young, director of performance studies at Stern College for Women, on voice and medieval harp and Andy Rutherford on medieval lute.
This will be followed by a viewing of the Erfurt exhibit, which offers a glimpse into Jewish life and culture in medieval Europe. A half-day conference on November 6 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art will explore cultural interactions during medieval times with presentations on metalwork, architecture, and sculpture.
Speakers will include Barbara Drake Boehm, curator in the Department of Medieval Art and the Cloisters Museum and Gardens, the Metropolitan Museum of Art; Vivian B. Mann, director of the master's program in Jewish art at the Graduate School of the Jewish Theological Seminary and curator emerita at the Jewish Museum; Carol Herselle Krinsky, professor of art history at New York University; and Nina Rowe, assistant professor of art history at Fordham University. The sessions will be moderated by Jacob Wisse, associate professor of art at Stern College.
