Painting Purim scenes on glass at the Madison conference

The workshop on reverse glass painting offered a quiet, focused counterpoint to the louder keynote sessions in Madison. Participants gathered around long tables lit from below, sketching characters from the Book of Esther before transferring their outlines onto small panes. The session reflected a wider interest across the conference in how Jewish visual traditions adapt when they move between materials, communities, and centuries.

Australia has its own strong connection to Jewish material culture, particularly through Melbourne's well-established community in suburbs like Caulfield and Elsternwick, where Judaica shops and galleries sit within walking distance of each other. Several attendees at the Wisconsin gathering had flown in from the southern hemisphere, carrying questions about how regional contexts shape the way Purim imagery is rendered.

The workshop was deliberately small, with around fifteen participants ranging from conservators to amateur painters. Glass was chosen as the medium because of its long history in Jewish ritual art, a thread that connects to broader studies of Kiddush cup traditions and other ceremonial objects.

Origins of Purim imagery in Jewish art

Visual depictions of the Purim story have circulated in Jewish communities for centuries, appearing on illuminated megillot, printed broadsides, and household objects. Early renderings often focused on the central figures of Esther, Mordecai, and Haman, with elaborate costumes and theatrical gestures that mirrored the carnival spirit of the holiday itself. Over time, these images moved from manuscript pages onto ceramic tiles, embroidered textiles, and eventually glass.

The workshop's curator traced this trajectory during a short opening talk, noting that the migration of Purim motifs onto glass coincided with the rise of domestic display practices in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Europe. Families wanted objects that could hang in a window and catch the light, transforming a religious narrative into a luminous decoration.

Glass in Jewish artistic tradition

Glass occupied an unusual place in Jewish material culture, valued for both its fragility and its permanence. Ritual objects such as ceremonial plates and decorative window hangings brought light into domestic spaces while remaining light enough to handle. The medium allowed artisans to combine fine detail with luminous colour, qualities that suited narrative scenes from the Purim story particularly well.

Workshop participants examined several nineteenth-century examples brought in by the instructor, noting how the translucent background gave figures a slightly floating quality. This effect became a hallmark of Eastern European Jewish glass painting, distinguishing it from contemporary devotional works on the same medium.

Reverse glass painting as a technique

Reverse glass painting, sometimes called verre églomisé, involves applying paint to the back of a transparent surface so the image is viewed through the glass. The technique demands a steady hand and a willingness to work in reverse, since every stroke must be planned from the final composition outward. Workshop participants practiced on small rectangles, beginning with simple silhouette work before attempting layered scenes.

Lighting mattered as much as brushwork. Each workstation had a small LED panel beneath the glass, mimicking the effect of a sunlit window. The instructor emphasised that the medium rewards patience over speed, a quality that several Australian attendees noted felt familiar from their own experiences with slow craft traditions.

The workshop itself

Participants began by selecting a moment from the Purim narrative to interpret. Some chose the dramatic unveiling before the king, while others focused on quieter scenes such as Mordecai listening at the gate. Templates were provided, but most attendees quickly abandoned them in favour of their own compositions.

Pigments were mixed from a limited palette, and the instructor demonstrated how to layer translucent washes to suggest depth without losing the flat, illustrative quality typical of Jewish folk art. The finished panels were small enough to hold in one hand, a scale that the curator described as deliberately intimate.

Australian connections and local context

Jewish communities in Sydney and Melbourne have maintained active arts programming for decades, often through organisations registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission. Galleries in these cities regularly feature work that draws on European Jewish heritage while reflecting contemporary Australian life.

Australian customs and biosecurity regulations can complicate the import of antique glass, a point raised by one participant who had attempted to bring a nineteenth-century Purim plate into the country. The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry requires thorough documentation for any item that might carry organic residue, which has prompted local collectors to focus on reproductions and contemporary commissions.

Materials, costs, and practical considerations

Material Workshop setting Typical Australian retail Notes
Glass pane (A5) Provided AUD 6–10 Pre-cut acrylic alternatives available
Outliner paint Provided AUD 12–18 per tube Available at major craft chains
Liquid leading Provided AUD 14–20 Sold in small bottles
LED light panel Borrowed AUD 25–45 Widely available online
Reference imagery Printed handouts Variable Public domain scans common

The figures above reflect workshop pricing and approximate Australian retail rates, though local availability varies between states. Hobbyists in regional areas often rely on mail-order suppliers based in Melbourne or Sydney.

Recommendations for participants back home

A small group from the conference continued discussions over coffee in the weeks after Madison, sketching out ways to keep the momentum alive. The following suggestions emerged from those conversations and from feedback collected during the workshop itself.

Several attendees have already begun planning local follow-up sessions, with one group in Caulfield pencilling in a tentative date for early next year. The first of these gatherings will take place at a community centre in Caulfield, where a local artist has agreed to lead a weekend session on reverse glass techniques using the notes from Madison.