Christian art could depict biblical Jews as Muslims but never Jesus himself

Evidence

The essence of religious orientalism is revealed by the fact that, in Christian art, most Israelites can typically be shown as Muslims, but not Jesus Christ. — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 158

Categorization

• DEEPTHINKING: A compressed thesis that inverts how we usually think about both orientalism and Christian iconography — the boundary it draws (Muslim/Jew exchangeable, Christ excepted) quietly maps the entire logic of supersession onto visual representation.
• XREF: Connects to the ADENDUM on ‘Grafting & Growth’ only loosely; stronger connection is to supersessionist theology generally — Judaism surpassed by Christianity — and to Edward Said’s orientalism critique.