Art & Culture on the Rhine A Signature Lecture Series featuring John Paul Thornton

Gain invaluable context for your journey through Holland and the Rhine River Valley by joining a pair of lectures by guest speaker John Paul Thornton. This two-part series covers the history and folklore of the Rhine, with one of the two courses emphasizing the impact of Jewish art and culture throughout the centuries—perfect for guests opting to partake in the Jewish Heritage program offered on this sailing.

These Signature Lectures will be offered on the May 31, 2024, sailing of Remarkable Rhine & Historic Holland.

Explore the historic and picturesque castles, towers, and imposing fortresses set upon the terraced banks of the romantic Rhine. Steeped in medieval folklore, each structure tells a story of family rivalry, wealth, chivalry, and power. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, poets and travelers on the grand tour penned dreamy accounts of the region, and after the Napoleonic wars and the Unification of Germany, the Rhine became a destination to satisfy the yearning for a pre-industrial world. We will learn the origins of many fantastic local tales, like that of the famed “Lorelei,” an alluring siren whose songs coaxed sailors towards the dramatic rocky outcropping that bears still her name. Learn about the regional wine, economic importance, and current cultural popularity of the gorge.

As we prepare to visit the UNESCO World Heritage region that is comprised of Speyer, Worms, and Mainz (collectively known as the ShuM), discover the early Roman history of Mainz, presumably settled with Jews. Home of the 10th-century scholar Moses Calonymus and many famed Rabbis, this medieval town was a seat of Hebraic culture. The ShuM was a thriving safe haven for the devout Ashkenazi community. Learn about the history and rich traces of the Jewish people still evident here. Next, we will take a reverent look at Baroque master Rembrandt van Rijn, who painted in the neighborhood of Amsterdam’s bustling Portuguese Synagogue and is believed to have engaged Jewish models for his biblically-themed portraits. Finally, we discover the incredible “Haskalah” or “Jewish Enlightenment” of the nineteenth century, which opened the doors to Jewish painters and writers.