Some view the past in hues of black and white. But the past was filled with color, says Steven Fine, professor of Jewish history at Yeshiva University in New York.

“Scholars of classical antiquity now know this to have been true of Greek and Roman art. My work applies this perception to the Jewish past,” says the director of the Yeshiva University Center for Israel Studies and a founding editor of Images: A Journal of Jewish Art and Visual Culture.

Fine will speak on “Menorahs in Color: Polychromy in Jewish Visual Culture of Roman Antiquity,” at 4 p.m. April 1 at 202 S. Thayer St., Room 2022. As director of the Arch of Titus Digital Restoration project, he led the team that in 2012 discovered the original yellow paint with which it was painted.

“My goal,” he says, “is for people to see the world in all of its brightness, richness, and thus its full humanity.” Fine is the author of several books, including the award-winning “Art and Judaism in the Greco-Roman World: Toward a New Jewish Archaeology.” His new book about the Menorah is scheduled for 2015.

The event is sponsored by the Jean & Samuel Frankel Center for Judaic Studies. For more information, contact [email protected] or (734) 763-9047.

UpstART Festival explores art’s impact

The four-day, inaugural UpstART Festival today through Thursday will explore the dynamic ways in which the arts permeate and influence learning across all disciplines.

Students with a passion for art, whether curricular or co-curricular, will showcase their work reflecting all forms of artistic expression, from music to visual art, from theater and dance to poetry and film. These presentations will culminate with a free student show at the Power Center. Student visual work will be on exhibit in the Michigan League throughout the festival. More than 40 artists, alumni, professors and students will deliver MTalks throughout UpstART, which is free to the public.

It is sponsored by the U-M Arts Consortium. For more information, go to arts.umich.edu/upstartfest/index.php.