Picturing the Difference: Image of the Jew in Several Orthodox Churches of Southern Transylvania (Part I: Elements of Jewish Costume
Picturing the Difference: Image of the Jew in Several Orthodox Churches of Southern Transylvania (Part I: Elements of Jewish Costume

Summary/Abstract: Abstract The article focuses on the visual representations of the Jew in several Romanian Orthodox wall paintings of Southern Transylvania. The case study covers a series of frescos created by a family of artists, Grecu, which came from Ţara Oltului and settled down in Săsăuş. By analyzing sequences from the Passion Cycle and from the Pentecostarion, the author highlights the manner in which religious and ethnic otherness was constructed at the beginning of the 19th century. The paper also investigates the way in which various elements of Jewish clothing traveled throughout Central and Eastern Europe during the 18th and 19th century, and how pieces of these costumes were used to emphasize the difference between Jewish otherness and Romanian Christian identity

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