The publisher's description on the inside cover of this book rightly states, “No story is more central to Western culture than the crucifixion of Jesus Christ in the New Testament, and none better demonstrates the power of representation in shaping religious faith and practice.” It continues by indicating that the book consists of “essays … written by eminent scholars with an eye toward the nonspecialist reader.” A number of the dozen contributors have written important monographs treating the subject of their essays: James H. Marrow on the Passion in late medieval art, Miri Rubin on the cult of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Jody Enders on the medieval theater, David Morgan on American Protestants and visual images, Adele Reinhartz on the Jesus of Hollywood, and Walter S. Melion's earlier related pieces on Jerónimo Nadal. Editor Marcia Kupfer sums up nicely what she seeks to achieve with this multi-disciplinary collection, “When it comes to the Passion, not only is artistic representation impossible to circumvent; it is the primary vehicle through which the faithful imagine, absorb and gain understanding of Christ's death. The Passion story, moreover, is of paramount concern beyond its religious meaning to believers, for it is also the prism through which Christianity has historically fashioned and purveyed representations of Jews and Judaism” (3).

To achieve her goals, Kupfer divides the essays into three parts. The first, “Narrative Transformations, Pictorial Elaborations,” contains four essays establishing the historical background. The second, “Popular Spectacle, Mass Consumption,” with five pieces, turns to depictions of the Passion primarily in the theater and on the movie screen. The final, the briefest but in some ways the most powerful, consists of three studies and is entitled, “Jewish Perspectives.” On the whole, each of the three sections is very strong, scholarly, and interdisciplinary, yet structured in such a way that a non-specialist can quickly become absorbed in the arguments presented. A consideration of four of the essays should demonstrate the validity of this observation.

Miri Rubin's piece, “The Passion of Mary: The Virgin and the Jews in Medieval Culture,” in part 1 examines an aspect of the cult of the Virgin which is not often considered by scholars. Her central position in late medieval Christianity warrants the examination Rubin gives to the idea of the Jews as the enemies of Mary in the minds of those during this period.

“Realizing the Passion on Screen” by Robin Blaetz also deserves special attention because it so succinctly presents a complex subject in less than twenty pages (147–64). The piece seeks to understand why the many films on the Passion of Christ are generally considered poor and fail to capture the real Christ and his importance on screen. As an example, she explores Mel Gibson's Passion of Christ (2004) at the beginning and the conclusion of her piece. In fact, if there is one single thread, beyond the Passion itself, that connects most of the essays in this collection, it is the many references to Gibson's film, especially to its strong anti-Judaism.

Also in the second section is “Two Thousand Years of Storytelling about Jesus: How Faithful Is Pasolini's Gospel to Matthew's Gospel?” by Christopher Fuller, who focuses on what many consider to be the finest depiction of Christ and the Passion on film. The film surely should be better known, and Fuller's examination makes a strong case for that position. Like many of these essays, it explores the anti-Semitism underlying the film and the Gospel narrative.

Concluding the collection, and especially strong in ending the Jewish perspectives on the Passion, is an admirable essay by David Nirenberg entitled, “Epilogue: A Brief History of Jewish Enmity.” Like Marc Saperstein's powerful piece, “Jewish Responses to the Passion Narratives,” in the same section, Nirenberg's complex essay is difficult to summarize in a few words, although central to it is the role of St. Paul and Pauline writings in the development of the idea of Jewish enmity to Christ and the Passion. Saperstein's exploration of the anti-Semitism generated by works such as The Oberammergau Passion Play, which significantly contributes to the mentality underlying the Holocaust, is further extended by Nirenberg to the present-day confrontation in the Middle East between Jews and Muslims.

After reading this powerful collection of essays that so admirably capture one side of the Passion narrative—its images and resulting horror—the reviewer can only hope for a future collection generated by this one that seeks to explore the positive spirituality generated by the Passion and its depiction. It would be one of the most valuable contributions of the present collection. As it is, one must be grateful for so fascinating an interdisciplinary collection of pieces that provide numerous insights into current scholarship on the issues, both through the essays themselves and the accompanying notes and bibliography. This review can only begin to do justice to this collection. Each of the essays could serve as the basis for an episode of a series on the Passion on PBS or the History Channel. May the future provide more such excellent learned studies that lend themselves to powerful visual productions.