The Forgotten Jewish Painter, Salomon Adler

JEWISH JOURNAL 
By Milad Doroudian

Self-portrait of the German painter Salomon Adler (1630-1709). Exposed in the Budapest Museum of Fine Arts

GERMANY---[Salomon] Adler lived in a period when Judaism in Europe was still clinging to rigid lines of conservatism. Most Jews held on to the idea that any art or imagery not related to the Tanakh was idolatrous and prohibited by the Second Commandment. As a result of this many Jews did not publicly dwell in the arts, in fear of angering their communities. Adler was one of the first secular Jewish artists to have opened the door for Jews who wished to break away from rigid conservatism to the realization  of liberal Jewish artistry. He, and the few others like him, were in essence the beginning of Jewish secular artistry in European form prior to the granting of mass emancipation to Jews. [link]