The Feast of the Rejoicing of the Law at the Synagogue in Leghorn (Livorno)
1850, oil on canvas by Solomon Alexander Hart (1806-1881)
The Jewish Museum, New York
1850, oil on canvas by Solomon Alexander Hart (1806-1881)
The Jewish Museum, New York
Using one of the artist's few observations of a Jewish structure during his Italian tour, the work shows the interior of the magnificent synagogue in Leghorn, originally built in 1591.
This interior is perhaps the foremost example of the lavish redecoration common to Italian synagogues in the eighteenth century. Hart captures a romantic vision of the exotic dress of his Italian coreligionists as they parade the scrolls of the Law on Simhat Torah, the feast of the rejoicing of the Law.
This marks the end of the fall harvest festival, Sukkot, and is the holy day on which the yearly cycle of reading the Pentateuch ends, immediately beginning again with Genesis.
(Masterworks of the Jewish Museum, New York, 2004)
The old synagogue was destroyed in the Second World War, but some of its balusters survive in the tebah of the new one.See also: Synagogue of Livorno - Inside the Synagogue - Moses Montefiore
External links: The Jewish Museum, New York
Search labels: synagogue
15 comments:
Great post VP!
Enjoy learning new things! I like that after the war they used what hadn't been destroyed to build something new!
The painting is great and the photo is very interesting. I have never been inside a synagogue.
I do like that painting. Just beautiful.
Wonderful! I love that painting.
Great post, VP. The painting is wonderful. with exquisite details in the fabrics.
Wonderful oil--amazing detail. Also amazing is the fact that even though the older synagogue was destroyed some was saved and used again. MB
Only the Torah scrolls have not changed since the days of your painting.
The modern synagogue looks much brighter.
Every time you mention an old, important building that was destroyed in the war, I cringe.
Thanks for this special post, VP.
Very interesting story about this synagogue, it's so great they rebuilt it.
The painting is wonderful, specially the columns and the arch!Beautiful indeed!
Leia
Interesting and nice posting.
Thanks for sharing.
Very romantic painting and yet so good that it shows what used to be.
A very interesting photo inside the Synagogue!
Very interesting, VP.
So much was destroyed during the Second World War! Thank goodness there's a painting to remind us of what once was to compare it with what is there now.
What a rich painting. It awes me to look at those men wearing those intricate fabric clothes back then. Our fashions have, to some extent, become simpler. The beautiful balusters fit perfectly in the modern synagogue. Good post, VP.
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