Preparing for Passover

Paul Christian Kirchner

Johann Georg Puschner

Sebastian Jugendres

1724

Image

Print engraving of scenes indoors and outdoors of people cooking in kitchen, cleaning, using oven, and gathering wheat. — This illustration depicting Jews baking matzah and cleaning the house for Passover appeared in the book *Jüdisches Ceremoniel* (*Jewish Ceremonial Customs*), by Paul Christian Kirchner, a Jewish convert to Christianity. The first edition of his book, published in Erfurt, Germany, in 1717, had no illustrations and was critical of Judaism. In 1724, a new edition of the book was published in Nuremberg, Germany. It was edited by Christian Hebraist Sebastian Jugendres (1685–1765), who softened Kirchner’s criticism of Judaism. It included twenty-eight copperplate engravings, which were made in the workshop of Johann Georg Puschner (1680–1749) and his son, also named Johann Georg.

Credits

Paul Christian Kirchner, “Das Kuchen Bachen,” from Jüdisches Ceremoniel (Nürnberg: Peter Conrad Monath, 1724), p. 87. Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 5.

Marriage Ceremony

This illustration depicting a Jewish wedding taking place under a huppah (wedding canopy) near a synagogue appeared in the book Jüdisches Ceremoniel (Jewish Ceremonial Customs), by Paul Christian…

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Drawing of figure in center balancing plates on sticks, as several people watch from benches.

Dad Runs Away with the Circus

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Mural of two figures looking at each other under hieroglyphs.

Fringes/tassels on Garments of "Asiatics"

Fringes/tassels on garments of “Asiatics.” In Egyptian art, tassels are a typical feature of the garb of Asiatics, the peoples of Canaan/Israel and Syria, as in this mural from the tomb of Pharaoh…

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Creator Bio

Paul Christian Kirchner converted to Christianity in 1709. He is the author of Jüdisches Ceremoniel (Jewish Ceremonial Customs), published in Erfurt, Germany, in 1717, which took a critical stance on Judaism but which was later republished by Sebastian Jugendres with more neutral text.

Creator Bio

Johann Georg Puschner

1680–1749

Johann Georg Puschner was a printmaker who was active in Nuremberg, Germany. The son of a blacksmith, he was also an astronomer. He is best known for his copperplate engravings of the town and university of Altdorf and for landscapes of Nuremberg. He maintained a workshop with his son, who was also named Johann Georg, so it is not always possible to determine which one was the artist of a particular work.

Creator Bio

Sebastian Jugendres

1685–1765

Sebastian Jugendres was a Christian Hebraist, historian, and scholar of heraldry in Nuremberg, Germany. He is known for his reworking of Jüdisches Ceremoniel (Jewish Ceremonial Customs), originally published as an antisemitic tract in Erfurt, Germany, in 1717, into a second edition with a more neutral tone and copious illustrations.