Woodcut of the so-called martyrdom of Simon of Trent
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 15.000 inches (38.1 cm) | Width: 9.500 inches (24.13 cm)
Creator(s)
- Peter Ehrenthal (Compiler)
Biographical History
The Katz Ehrenthal Collection is a collection of more than 900 objects depicting Jews and antisemitic and anti-Jewish propaganda from the medieval to the modern era, in Europe, Russia, and the United States. The collection was amassed by Peter Ehrenthal, a Romanian Holocaust survivor, to document the pervasive history of anti-Jewish hatred in Western art, politics and popular culture. It includes crude folk art as well as pieces created by Europe's finest craftsmen, prints and periodical illustrations, posters, paintings, decorative art, and toys and everyday household items decorated with depictions of stereotypical Jewish figures.
Archival History
The woodcut was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2016 by the Katz Family.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of the Katz Family
Funding Note: The cataloging of this artifact has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
Scope and Content
Single leaf with a woodcut of a blood libel scene from the Nuremberg Chronicle, an early printed work published in Gemany in 1493. This event supposedly took place in 1475 in Trent, Italy, when a a two year old Christian boy named Simon was found dead. Shortly before Simon went missing, an itinerant Franciscan preacher had delivered sermons in Trent vilifying the local Jewish community. The Catholic Church later designated the child Simon as a martyr. Blood libel accusations were one of the oldest antisemitic falsehoods in which a Jewish community or individuals are falsely blamed for killing Christian children in a religious ritual. Over the centuries these claims have resulted in expulsions, executions, and mob attacks against Jews. See 2016.184.457 for another example of this print. This woodcut is one of more than 900 items in the Katz Ehrenthal Collection of antisemitic visual materials.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Reproduction
No restrictions on use
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Single leaf with Latin text and woodcuts.
People
- Simon, of Trent, -1475--Pictorial works.
Subjects
- Anti-Jewish propaganda--History--Germany--15th century.
- Antisemitism in art--Germany--15th century.
- Christianity and antisemitism--Pictorial works.
- Antisemitism--Germany--15th century--Pictorial works.
- Blood accusation--Germany--History--Pictorial works.
Genre
- Art
- Object