Marzipan, Chocolate, and Gothic Sculpture

Assaf Pinkus

Assaf Pinkus is a TAU student with diverse interests. As well as studying for his doctoral degree in Art History at TAU, he is a master confectioner and pastry-chef with several prizes and certificates under his belt. Assaf was recently awarded a scholarship of the Y. Bat-Miriam Fund in memory of Zuzik (Nachum) Hazaz for his research on late Gothic German art of the Alsace. He is particularly fascinated by this art's complexities - its mysticism and expressiveness on the one hand, and its realism on the other. Assaf embarked on both his careers at about the same time, enrolling as a student in Art History at TAU and also as an apprentice confectioner at Israel's premier hotel school. He has a master confectioner's certificate from the Salzburg Confectioners' Guild in Austria and is also a master pastry-chef. In 1992 he won a bronze medallion for his intricate marzipan figures at the Austrian Confectionery Competition. He is currently studying in the accelerated doctoral track at TAU under the supervision of Prof. Nurith Kenaan-Kedar, incumbent of the George and Mary Bloch Chair in Comparative Art History at TAU's Katz Faculty of the Arts. At the award ceremony, Prof. Kenaan-Kedar presented the scholarship and gave greetings. A lecture was delivered by Dr. Hannah Taragan of the Department of Art History, and musical passages were played by former friend of Zuzik, Prof. Uzi Weizel. The Fund was established by Prof. Mariesa Bat-Miriam Katznelson in memory of her mother, Yocheved Bat-Miriam, and of her brother, Zuzik (Nachum) Hazaz, who fell during Israel's War of Independence.