Discovery and Sale of Moritz Daniel Oppenheim's Painting The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara

 

Moritz Daniel Oppenheim.  The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara (1862).  Photo: Sotheby's.

 

Discovery and Sale of Moritz Daniel Oppenheim's Painting The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara

by Samuel D. Gruber

A very important art historical discovery - the lost 1862 painting by Moritz Daniel Oppenheim of the Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara (If I had known it, it would have been in my just-ended Jewish Art course).  This event was - until the Dreyfus Affair later in the century - probably the most internationally followed and most opposed state legal action against Jews in the 19th century. As historian David Kertzer points out in this article - interview, it has far-reaching consequences. Read the article - but then go read David's page-turner of a book - The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara. I'm looking forward to his new book - previewed here - about Pope Pius XI and Mussolini.

 

The painting was sold to a private collector for over $400,000. I hope it is donated to a museum.

Read the article by Maya Benton in Tablet:

Behind the Sotheby's Sale of Painting About Edgardo Mortara, Catholic-Jewish History

www.tabletmag.com