Creative expression and attributes of the portraits of Jewish members of Enlightenment did not differ from those of their contemporary Christian scholars. They gained the standing of middleclass intellectuals by the same means of self-education (“Selbstbildung”) and social interaction, and they made a claim for acceptance within the sciences and the arts. Classical Antiquity offered them a descriptive model for a humanised education. Thus, Henriette Herz became a symbol of classical beauty and virtue in the antique robe of Hebe. At the same time, she represented a Jewish Muse of the sciences and arts. Likewise, the multi-layered meanings of mythological figures and emblems of the bookplate of David Friedländer facilitated the visualisation of the new and complex self-image of Jewish middle-class existence. Thus, harp and column base could symbolise also the superiority of Hebrew poetry and the strength of biblical teachings within the iconography of the Haskalah, which were set into the light of Enlightenment by Moses Mendelssohn’s translation of the Psalms and the Torah. In order to mark the latter’s modern scholarliness, the Maskilim attributed the owl to Mendelssohn, the ancient Greek symbol of wisdom. Moreover, they stylised him as an icon after his death: his virtuous character became a role model, his portrait became a symbol of human perfection.