Introduction
Judaism has forged with images a relationship the more complex for not being monolithic. Figurative representation is censured in the more legally-minded texts of the Torah[1]. Several events seem to bear out this powerful repulsion displayed by the Jews in classical times. However archaeological discoveries in the Southern Levant[2] call for some nuancing of this axiom, for the synagogues from the Roman and Byzantine eras exhibit numerous mosaics representing biblical scenes, even including some pagan references. The relation to images must therefore be considered as both manifold and diverse, depending on trends and times, tied up with regional political changes.
