Romulus and Moses: expressing social conformity through images of the past in the Amsterdam Haggadot of 1695 and 1712

Abstract: As in many other times and places Jews of seventeenth century Amsterdam developed an acceptance of and conformity to the social and cultural context of the host society. Aspects of this accommodation are explored in relation to an  analysis  of  the  illustrations  in  the  Amsterdam  Passover Haggadah, published in 1695 and 1712, scenes which were destined to become the archetypes for subsequent printed and hand-made versions for the next three centuries.  The  images  themselves  were  based  on  historical  and  biblical illustrations by Matthais Merian the Elder. Here their selection, modification and transformation from a secular or Christian into a Jewish context takes as a starting point the re-imagining of a picture of Romulus and Remus as Moses and the Egyptian overseer.