Jewish iconography, whether actually represented in works of art or existing only as traditional imagery (and occasionally referred to in literature), was determined from the first by the biblical "prohibition of images." This prohibition, transmitted in the Bible in several versions, could be understood (1) as forbidding, in a religious context, all images, regardless of their subject matter (Ex. 20:4, Dt. 4:15–18), or (2) specifically forbidding the depiction of God and the ritual use of such a depiction as an idol (Dt. 27:15). While the first interpretation of the prohibition did not prevail (the Bible itself provides evidence of this in 1 Kgs. 6:23–29, Ez. 8:5–12), the other was consistently implemented. Possibly the most striking feature of Jewish iconography throughout the ages is the systematic avoidance of any depiction of the figure of God. To a large extent this is also true for saintly personages: though hagiographical literature emerged in...