“Historians are fairly certain that Buonarroti spent much time in the Jewish parts of Rome, using the authentic features of real Jews… — Benjamin Blech Copy Share Image
“the Jewish high priests but to the custodians of any monotheistic faith, popes included, to maintain the purity of belief and of… — Benjamin Blech Copy Share Image
“He infused his ceiling fresco with Kabbalistic images that reflected the Kabbalistic pavement design below. He linked the Jewish ancestral tree to… — Benjamin Blech Copy Share Image
“Carafa, as Pope Paul IV, established the Index of Forbidden Books, banned all women from entering the Vatican, burnt volumes of Talmud… — Benjamin Blech Copy Share Image
“The Vatican preached that because the Jews had killed Jesus and rejected his teachings they were punished with the loss of their… — Benjamin Blech Copy Share Image
“It captures the essence of a mystical Jewish concept: the struggle of the animalistic, amoral soul against the human, spiritual soul. In… — Benjamin Blech Copy Share Image
“In Jewish tradition, we find the cautionary adage “Be in the world, but not of the world.” In the Gospels, Jesus says:… — Benjamin Blech Copy Share Image
“The Hebrew Bible, speaking of the first sexual encounter between Adam and Eve, says that “Adam knew” his mate. Remarkably, the Hebrew… — Benjamin Blech Copy Share Image
“Why one of the later, lesser-known Jewish prophets over the front door of the Sistine? Michelangelo must have selected Zechariah for a… — Benjamin Blech Copy Share Image
“Kabbalah (in Hebrew, literally “receiving”) refers to the mystical traditions that encompass the secrets of the Torah, the esoteric truths that reveal… — Benjamin Blech Copy Share Image
“In most Christian imagery of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, the suffering, damned Jews were portrayed as unsympathetic caricatures. This was an… — Benjamin Blech Copy Share Image
“Still, the rebellious artist had placed a minor Jewish prophet in the important spot where the pope had wanted Jesus. How did… — Benjamin Blech Copy Share Image
“The Hebrew Bible, speaking of the first sexual encounter between Adam and Eve, says that “Adam knew” his mate. Remarkably, the Hebrew… — Benjamin Blech Copy Share Image
“Over the front altar wall, we see the spandrel of Esther and Haman. This story is found in both Hebrew and Christian… — Benjamin Blech Copy Share Image
“If an artist of the caliber of Leonardo or Michelangelo was paid a hefty commission for a new private piece of art, that artwork… — Benjamin Blech Copy Share Image
“The Florentine public didn’t care. When the full-sized preparatory cartoons were displayed, the entire city went into ecstasy over both works. This was the… — Benjamin Blech Copy Share Image
“The floor is a fifteenth-century revival of medieval Cosmatesque mosaic style. The Cosmati family developed their unmistakable technique in Rome in the twelfth and… — Benjamin Blech Copy Share Image
“Carafa, as Pope Paul IV, established the Index of Forbidden Books, banned all women from entering the Vatican, burnt volumes of Talmud and Kabbalah,… — Benjamin Blech Copy Share Image
“The Vatican preached that because the Jews had killed Jesus and rejected his teachings they were punished with the loss of their Holy Temple… — Benjamin Blech Copy Share Image
“The Jew cannot accept the New Testament since it is the words of one man intended to undo what the Creator had shared with… — Benjamin Blech Copy Share Image
“THE VATICAN The very name Vatican comes from a surprising source. It is neither Latin nor Greek, nor is it of biblical origin. In… — Benjamin Blech Copy Share Image
“Buonarroti was later given the job of designing the huge dome of the new Basilica of St. Peter. It is well known how much… — Benjamin Blech Copy Share Image
“How to maintain the proper mood and not bore the congregation to sleep? Art was the answer. But not just pretty pictures that required… — Benjamin Blech Copy Share Image
“Yet another strategy for encoding in Renaissance works involved environmental “special effects.” Messages were ingeniously inserted so that they could be viewed only when… — Benjamin Blech Copy Share Image
“But last and least known is its additional purpose as a Kabbalistic meditational device that thus, in one more way, links it to ancient… — Benjamin Blech Copy Share Image
“Thus, Michelangelo filled the chapel with hidden messages of his passionate loves and his righteous rages, along with mystic symbols of divine justice and… — Benjamin Blech Copy Share Image
