Balthasar Bernaerts

BALTHASAR BERNAERTS (Holland, active 1711-1737)
"The Purim Feast at the Portuguese synagogue in Amsterdam".
Early 18th century Dutch engraving.
Texts in French.
Edited in Amsterdam by Jean Frédéric Bernard.
Dirt, damp stains, cracks, wrinkles and some tears.
They were part of the book "Cérémonies et coutumes religieuses de tous les peuples du monde", which appeared from 1723 to 1743.
Measurements: 35 x 44 cm (larger) .
Engravings of similar characteristics to the one we present are conserved in the Museum of Art and History of Judaism of Paris and the Metropolitan Museum of New York.
Balthasar Bernaerts Dutch engraver and illustrator of biblical themes; active in Amsterdam ca. 1720.
Jean-Frédéric Bernard (1683-1744) was a French publisher and writer. Born into a Huguenot family, he took refuge in Amsterdam because of the persecutions to which the Huguenots were subjected in France during the period in which Bernard lived.Jean - Frédéric Bernard's most famous work is most likely the encyclopedia of religions entitled Cérémonies et Coutumes Religieuses de tous les Peuples du Monde, created in collaboration with the engraver and designer Bernard Picart between 1723 and 1743. This work is considered "the book that changed Europe" by scholars Lynn Hunt, Margaret C. Jacob, and Wijnand Mijnhardt, according to whom Cérémonies is the first major comparative study of religions published on the Old Continent, constituting a significant contribution to religious tolerance, appeared on the cultural scene in times of persecution and conflicts between religious communities.