Kiddush levana is a Jewish ritual and prayer service, generally observed on the first or second Saturday night of each Hebrew month. Artists have depicted Kiddush levana for centuries, in paintings, woodcuts, engravings, and manuscript illuminations. Some depictions of moon divination on Hoshana Rabbah have been misattributed to Kiddush levana by reference works.

Manuscript illuminations (1300–1600) One 13th-century Italian prayerbook decorates Kiddush levana with a moon accompanied by a series of ladders in a field of stars. Regarding the ladder motif, cf. Cohen, Élie (2000). "La prière à la lune". Prières méditerranéennes hier et aujourd'hui: actes du colloque organisé par le Centre Paul-Albert Février, Université de Provence-C.N.R.S., à Aix-en-Provence les 2 et 3 avril 1998 (in French). p. 142. Portrayals of Kiddush levana are particularly common in 15th-century Italian liturgical manuscripts, which often show a silver crescent moon. List given is: "Par ex.: Oxford, Bodl. Libr., Ms. Mich. 610, f. 12v [not found]; Parme, Bibl. Pal., Ms. Parm. 1756-De Rossi 236, f. 93r; Vatican, Bibl. Apost., Cod. Vat. ebr. 573, f. 97r; Jérusalem, Bibl. Nat. Univ., Ms. Heb. 8º 5572, f. 60r; Jérusalem, Bibl. Nat. Univ., Ms. Heb. 8º 5492, f. 113r; Jérusalem, Coll. Sassoon, Ms. 23, [f. 80r]. Jérusalem, Mus. Isr., Ms. Rothschild 24, f. [50r]." All are available in the gallery below except MS Bodleian, which has not been scanned (). The moon is generally anthropomorphized, a practice which had been adopted from Christian art in the 13th century.Roth, Abraham Naftali Zvi (1967). "Kiddush levana" (in Hebrew). Yeda Am. Vol. 12 [misprinted 13]. p. 5, "This practice is only for the scribe's amusement". Other suggestions are found in Shalev-Eyni, Sarit (2004). "Cosmological Signs in Calculating the Time of Redemption: The Christian Crucifixion and the Jewish New Moon of Nissan". Viator. 35 (1): 266, 276 n. 78.

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Woodcuts (1525–1775) Woodcuts depicting Kiddush levana began to appear in Jewish books in the 16th century, especially in editions of the Minhagim-bukh. The form of these depictions follows a template established by early woodcuts of astrologers. The participants wear Sabbath finery, as instructed by Soferim.Roth, Abraham Naftali Zvi (1967). "Kiddush levana" (in Hebrew). Yeda Am. Vol. 12 [misprinted 13]. p. 4. They stand outdoors, as recommended since the 13th century.Schubert, Ursula; Schubert, Kurt (1983). Jüdische Buchkunst. Vol. 2. pp. 147–148. One lost example described in Stars are shown along with the moon, to link Kiddush levana to the end of the Sabbath (which is determined by the appearance of stars), and to symbolically link the Sabbath and Kiddush levana "to one another as tokens of gratitude for the weekly and monthly cycles of time". Partial cloud cover is included in reference to the threat that clouds will obscure the moon,Davis (March 2024), p. 27. but the sky is always shown clear enough to allow for Kiddush levana to be recited.

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Engravings (1685–1800)

Revival illuminations (1712–1800) Many illuminations survive from the 18th century Jewish illuminated prayerbook revival, often adapted from earlier woodcuts. Some 18th-century illuminations show a group of ten men, an exact minyan.Sabar, Shalom (2000). "The Illustrated Prayer Book of Reizele Binge of Fürth, 1737/38". A Crown for a King. pp. 211-212. Retrieved January 19, 2026 - via Academia.

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Postcards (1875–1925)

Artwork Kiddush levana appeared on many fin de siècle holiday cards, and on a 2016 Russian postage stamp. The stamp adapts a painting of Kiddush levana by Elena Flerova (1943–2020). N.b. that this source labels another image "U.S. Kiddush Levana stamp" but it appears to actually depict the Rosh Chodesh window at Heichal Shlomo. Notable modern artists have depicted Kiddush levana, including Yitzhak Frenkel, Joseph Budko, Max Weber, Lionel S. Reiss Emanuel Glicen Romano, Hendel Lieberman, This painting is discussed in Krantzler, Gershon (1955). "Chosid From the Left Bank". Jewish Life. 22 (3). p. 33.Daily News. December 8, 1963. p. . Zalman Kleinman, Moshe Castel Zvi Malnovitzer, Elena Flerova, Jerzy Duda-Gracz, Boris Shapiro, Simcha Nornberg,Davidovitch, David (November 16, 1972). "'The Shtetl' of Simcha Nornberg". Jewish Advocate. p. A6. ,The Jerusalem Post. August 9, 1957. p. 8. Israel Hershberg, Ezekiel Schloss, Reuven Rubin, Haim Goldberg, Tadeusz Popiel, Hermann Junker, Jacob Steinhardt, and Artur Markowicz.

In 1986, Menahem Berman created Hallelujah, being a clock for Kiddush levana, which is an electronic device that displays the current moon phase by illuminating one of 30 masked lenses on a silver dial.Baum, Ilana (April 24, 1987). "Hayudayika ha-elektronit shel Berman" (in Hebrew). Maariv. p. 4:7 (38). Retrieved March 20, 2025 – via NLI. Psalm 148 is engraved on its base in Merubah, a late 18th-century prayerbook typeface.Avrin, Leila (1991). "Hebrew Calligraphy in Silver and Gold". Calligraphy Review. 9 (2): 47.

Noa Ginzburg's MFA thesis, Kiddush Levana, The Moon Is Your Handheld Mirror (2019), aimed "to disarm anthropocentric points of view and speak of temporality and displacement".Ginzburg, Noa (2019). Kiddush Levana, The Moon Is Your Handheld Mirror. City University of New York (MFA thesis). Retrieved January 9, 2025 – via AcademicWorks.

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