Jews and black Africans are not necessarily the first minority groups that come to mind in a discussion of Renaissance Art, but Professor Paul Kaplan believes their place in art history is invaluable.
In last night's Tomasso Lecture entitled "Jewish Artist and Black Africans in Renaissance Art," which took place in the Granoff Music Center, Kaplan pointed to the importance of bringing more scholarly attention to a manuscript called the Warsaw Codex. At the same time, he confronted the depiction of images of black Africans both within the manuscript and the wider Renaissance world.
The Warsaw Codex, a 16th century scripture by a Jewish artist named Moisè dal Castellazzo, now only survives in various facsimile reproductions from what was originally a woodcut-printed manuscript.
The codex tells the story of the five books of the Old Testament. Evidence of the artist's Jewish identity is obvious throughout. It has 211 distinct images and captions in Hebrew and Italian.
Jews were originally not allowed to live inside the city walls of Venice, but dal Castellazzo rose to such a level of popularity with the reigning duke that he was rewarded with certain luxuries. For example, he did not have to pay taxes and he was free to live and travel anywhere within the Duchy at any time. He also enjoyed the privilege of displaying knightly banners. It is a remarkable set of rights for any Jew or artist of the time, highlighting his importance in the Venetian art world.
Kaplan found the depiction of the story of Noah especially important in terms of the representation of black Africans in the codex. In the image, Noah is drunk and collapses in a naked stupor. All of his sons help cover him with the exception of Canaan. As punishment, God darkens his skin.
Kaplan said, "It quickly became clear that the dark-skinned men had a negative rather than a positive valiance" in the Warsaw codex, especially since there existed "no cases of a black African in the depictions of drunk Noah in Venetian depictions" before.
The Warsaw Codex also differs in its depictions of its time because benign representations of black Africans were quite popular in some of the greatest Italian artists' works. Titian and Carpaccio prominently featured representations of black gondola rowers and pages in their master paintings.
"This black presence [in the Warsaw Codex] is especially salient in Venetian art in contrast to their presence in Jewish art, which offers few representations of black Africans," Kaplan said.
The lack of many examples of black figures in Jewish art adds to the importance of the Warsaw Codex. It can be interpreted as a sly nod to racial relations in Venice between black Africans and Jews, but also as a look at the restricted lives of Jews during this time. Kaplan said, "While the significance of the depiction of black Africans should not be minimized, nor should it be exaggerated."
With regard to this issue, senior art history major Sarah Miller, who attended the event, said, "It would be interesting to see if the artist had any real contact with black Africans because they were so prevalent in Venice."
While there are many negative images in the work, there are also some beautiful representations. In the clock tower of San Marco, a beautifully adorned black male figure comes out to adore the Virgin Mary every time the tower chimes.
While there are definitely detrimental images of black Africans in Renaissance art, it must also be noted that there are an equal number that pay homage to their place in Venetian society.
Kaplan is currently the Sheila Biddle Ford Foundation Fellow of Art History at Harvard University's W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African American Research for the duration of the semester. When not at Harvard, he is a professor of Art History at SUNY, Purchase. Kaplan is a specialist of political iconography of Venetian Renaissance art and also has an interest in the presence of forks in the context of food and eating in Renaissance art.
