Figure 1.--'The Return of the Jewish Volunteer from the Wars of Liberation to His Family Still Living According to Old Customs' was among Oppenheim's mostvfamous works. The Wars of Liberation referred to the liberation of a still not united Germany from Napoleonic France. Oppenheim painted it about 1833-34, fairly early in his career. It should be viewed in the context of the gradual enfranchisemnt of Jews in the various Germans and other European states during the 19th century. The work addressed the anti-Semitic libel, finally put to rest by Israel, that Jews were cowardly and would not fight for their nations. It was among his best known works and frequently reproduced. Each work like this has its own unique history as to how it survivd the Holocaust.

Moritz Daniel Oppenheim was born in Hanau (1800). Hanau was part of Hesse. Germany would not unify until late in Oppenheim's life. He is commonly seen as the first modern Jewish artist. There were rlativly few Jewish artists ntil the 10th century. Mosaic disapproval of human depictions discouraged Jwish representationl art. During his era Jews began converting in substantil nimbrs atvaime in which Grmans states began incremntal rnfranchisement. During his lifetime only in America did Jews have full civil rights. He was part of the Wissenschaft des Judentums movement. We do not know a great deal about his childhood. He was raised in an Orthodox Jewish family. His artistic abilities were noted at an early age. He received his first lessons in painting from Conrad Westermayr in Hanau. He enteres the Munich Academy of Arts at the age of 17 years which is interesting because Bavaria still have bery restictiv laws governing Jews. He traveled to Paris where he studied under Jean-Baptiste Regnault. H then went to Rom , studying with Bertel Thorwaldsen, Barthold Georg Niebuhr, and Johann Friedrich Overbeck. From this earliest point he tool an interest in Jewish topics. He made sketches in the Jewish ghetto there. He painted some of these scenes after returning to Germny. He settled in Frankfurt (1825). His first major wirk, 'David Playing Before Saul"mwas well received. Goethe was an admirer. Charles Frederick, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach conferred the title of honorary professor on him, an early sign of Germany's move toward tolerance. We notice two fascinating works about contemprary Jews. First was work about Jewish soldiers who fought in the Napoleonic Wars--'Return of the Jewish Volunteer' (figure 1). The work addressed the anti-Semitic libel, finally put to rest by Israel, that Jews were cowardly and would not fight for their nations. It was among his best known works and frequently reproduced. The second was about Edgardo Montara, an Italian Jewish boy kidnapped by the pope.

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Created: 7:32 AM 3/3/2017
Last updated: 7:32 AM 3/3/2017