Bezalel Narkiss ( he, בצלאל נרקיס ; 1926–2008) was an Israeli art historian. He was awarded the
Israel Prize for his contribution to the field of
Jewish art
Jewish culture is the culture of the Jewish people, from its formation in ancient times until the current age. Judaism itself is not a faith-based religion, but an orthoprax and ethnoreligion, pertaining to deed, practice, and identity. Jewis ...
in 1999.
[Bezalel Narkiss: Jewish art historian](_blank)
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Biography
Bezalel Narkiss was born in Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
. He was the son of Mordechai Narkiss, director of the Bezalel National Museum. He studied at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Academic career
Narkiss was an expert in illuminated medieval Latin and Hebrew manuscripts and the relationship between Christian and Jewish visual art. After the collapse of communism in Europe in 1989, he embarked on a project to document the synagogues
A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of wors ...
there.Hebrew University
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...
, where he taught since 1964. In 1979, he created the Center for Jewish Art to document endangered Jewish art and architecture.New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, th ...
’s Institute of Fine Arts, Brown University and Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...
. In addition to his teaching positions, he was art editor of the Masada Press (1963—1975) and Encyclopaedia Judaica
The ''Encyclopaedia Judaica'' is a 22-volume English-language encyclopedia of the Jewish people, Judaism, and Israel. It covers diverse areas of the Jewish world and civilization, including Jewish history of all eras, culture, holidays, langu ...
. He was editor-in-chief of the Journal of Jewish Art in 1974—1986.
See also
*Visual arts in Israel
Visual arts in Israel refers to plastic art created first in the region of Palestine, from the later part of the 19th century until 1948 and subsequently in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories by Israeli artists. Visual art in Israel ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Narkiss, Bezalel
1926 births
2008 deaths
Israeli art historians
People from Jerusalem
Israel Prize recipients