This book explores the cultural and intellectual affinities between modern Judaism and the life and work of Michelangelo Buanrroti. It argues that Jewish intellectuals found themselves in the image of Michelangelo as an ‘unrequited lover’ whose work expressed loneliness and longing for humanity’s response. Turning to the uncanny, Jewish writers brought to live Michelangelo’s sculptures, seeing in them their own worldly and emotional struggles. While the Moses statue often became and archetype of Jewish liberation politcs, the Sistine Chapel appeared as a manifesto of prophetic socialism, devoid of its Christian elements. Jewish self-recognition in Michelangelo’s work thus offered an alternative to the failed promises of the German enlightenment.

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