Gaze Matters - When Does a Picture Become an Idol?

Lecture by Beniamino Fortis, Christian-Albrechts University, Kiel.

Is Idolatry in the eye of the beholder? Why do some pictures become objects of extraordinary devotion, while others remain mere pictures? At first glance, the Torah appears to take a clear stance by condemning imagery altogether. Yet the Torah itself commands the creation of visual artefacts, suggesting that the real issue cannot lie solely in their production.

This lecture proposes a different way of approaching the problem. Rather than asking what an idol is, it asks how a picture becomes one. Drawing on biblical texts, Greek philosophy, and modern picture theory, it argues that idolatry is not an intrinsic property of an object but arises from a particular way of looking at it. The power of pictures depends less on what they are than on how they are seen.

By exploring the relationship between pictures, presence, representation, and visual perception, the lecture offers a new interpretation of pictorial idolatry, while suggesting that the debate surrounding it remains relevant to our contemporary visual culture.

Beniamino Fortis studied philosophy in Italy, before going on to further his studies in various countries, including Germany, the United States, and Austria. His work has focused, on the one hand, on issues of aesthetics and picture theory and, on the other, on topics related to Jewish thought.  His current project on idolatry brings together these two main lines of research.