Pseudo-Hebrew is the artistic use of symbols meant to appear likeHebrew script but that are not in fact Hebrew letters.[1][2][3] The related phenomenon of the use of actual Hebrew letters in ways that do not represent actual language may be called "nonsense Hebrew".[1] Gary Schwartz, an art historian, notes that the use of pseudo-Hebrew in 15th-century art is not distinctive, as other works of the time also contain pseudo-Greek, Hebrew, and Latin.[4]
Inmedieval European artworks, faux-Hebrew was used in paintings to identify and portray Jewish people or as a reference to Jewish people, often in a negative light. Following theRenaissance, the frequency of faux-Hebrew increased in artworks and was often used to signify its status as aholy language forChristians.[5]
Resnick, Irven M. (2023). "'Lingua sacra et diabolica': A Survey of Medieval Christian Views of the Hebrew". In Daniel Stein Kokin (ed.).Hebrew Between Jews and Christians. De Gruyter. pp. 67–93.doi:10.1515/9783110339826-004.
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