Judenpredigt in Sant’ Angelo in Peschiera.

Jews seated in church in Rome forced to listen to a conversionist sermon. For another example of this lithograph, see Sotheby’s, The Michael & Judy Steinhardt Judaica Collection, April 29th, 2013, Lot 201. The conversionist sermon depicted in the lithograph was a common occurrence throughout Italy as late as the 18th century. As a result of periodic papal orders, Jews were forced to attend sermons given by Christian preachers. The sermons included guards to (sometimes violently) ensure an attentive audience - ears were even checked for plugs. It wasn’t until the end of the 18th century that the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Era more or less ended such anti-Jewish codes, including conversionist sermons. The 19th century garb depicted in the lithograph is not an anachronism. The end of Napoleon’s rule in Italy and the reconstitution of the Papal States brought the last resurgence of these anti-Jewish codes. On April 21st 1814, Pope Pius VII once again confined the Jews to ghettos, imposing upon them a curfew, forbade Jews property rights and made attendance at conversionist sermons mandatory. These codes were enforced by his successors until Pope Pius IX dismantled the ghetto, removed many of the restrictions, and abolished the conversionist sermons in 1846. See C. Roth, The History of the Jews of Italy (1946) pp. 450-59; and illustration of conversionist sermon opposite p.305.