Museum Studies Seminar: The Book of Job in Art: From Byzantium to Blake and Beyond

Museum Studies Seminar

The Book of Job in Art: From Byzantium to Blake and Beyond

September 9, 2020, 7-8.30 p.m. ET

Registration link: https://myunion.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJIrdumqqjMrHdwmei7Y22KfYhZZfs_aNxTV

Abby Schwartz will provide a visual treat in her lecture on the Book of Job in art. From Byzantine manuscripts of the 9th century to paintings by Albrecht Dürer and Georges de la Tour, the Book of Job has inspired artists through the ages. Most notable is the cycle of illustrations produced by the nineteenth century English poet, painter, and printmaker William Blake. Also included will be representations of the Job story in works from the Skirball Museum’s collections and temporary exhibitions.

Abby Schwartz has served as director of the Skirball Museum on the campus of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Cincinnati,  since 2013, where she oversaw the 2015 transfer of the B’nai B’rith Klutznick Jewish Museum’s collections to the Skirball, significantly increasing the museum’s holdings. She is the former curator of education at the Taft Museum of Art. Abby has lectured widely on Jewish art, notably at the Melton School and the Osher Life-Long Learning Institute of the University of Cincinnati. While at the Taft, she co-curated an exhibition of Jewish and Christian devotional objects with the Skirball Museum and served as general editor for the publication Artistic Expressions of Faith in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, first place winner of the 1998 Ohio Museum Association’s Visual Communications Award in the book/catalogue category. She has written exhibition catalogues and brochures and was involved with gathering photographic illustrations for the 4-volume catalogue of the Taft Museum of Art collections. Schwartz earned her Bachelor’s degree in History from the University of Rochester, where she graduated cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, and a Master’s degree in Art History from the University of Cincinnati.