Description: DESCRIPTION : Here for sale is a genuinely EXTREMELY RARE and RICHLY ILLUSTRATED and PHOTOGRAPHED Jewish book regarding the ART of the JEWISH EUROPEAN SYNAGOGUES , WOODEN SYNAGOGUES of POLAND and MANY OTHERS which was published in 1947 , Right after the WW2-HOLOCAUST in LONDON . The English written book is named " JEWISH ART in EUROPEAN SYNAGOGUES" by George Loukomski .The book can easily compete in BEAUTY with the much more known and common POLISH book regarding the JEWISH POLISH WOODEN SYNAGOGUES by the Polish researches Piechotca , Which has became since its publication in Warsaw Poland 1957 the "Bible" regarding this subjest . Nevertheless , This MUCH MORE RARE and AUTHENTIC 1947 book , Which was written right after the WW2 and the HOLOCAUST , Brings more ADDITIONAL illustrated and photographed INFO which the Piechotca's book is unable to provide . This 1947 book combins EXQUISITE wooden architecture of utmost beauty and originality with the Jewish WORSHIP of GOD and Jewish tradition. The book is throughout PHOTOGRAPHED and ILLUSTRATED , Numerous SYNAGOGUES , All detailed with LOCATIONS and SPECIFICATIONS , Plans , Facades and details . Profusely illustrated with annotated b/w photographic reproduction of art in synagogues in Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Russia, Hungary, Romania, Greece, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, England, Holland, France, Italy, Spain, and many other European countries. Main contents: An Historical introduction by Cecil Roth: The art of European synagogues. General views and studies of synagogues. Some ritual sources and features of synagogal building. Some considerations and comments on the evolution of plans of the synagogue. The synagogues of East Europe. The synagogues of Central Europe. The synagogues of West Europe. The synagogues of South-West and South Europe. Jewish decorative art as displayed in the synagogue. Tombstones (Decorative Sculpture). Conclusions. Appendices: Some historical surveys and records. Bibliography. List of synagogues. Important, as well as one of the first publications on Jewish art in European synagogues. EXTREMELY RARE and sought after. Original Cloth HC. Gilt headings. 7.5 x10" . 182 throughout photographed and illustrated chromo pp. Many chromo photographed plates. 281 illustrations. Extremely well preserved copy . Absolutely clean chromo leaves. Tightly bound. ( Please look at scan for actual AS IS images ) . Book will be sent protected inside a protective envelope . PAYMENTS : Payment method accepted : Paypal . SHIPPMENT : Shipp worldwide via registered airmail is $ 29 . Book will be sent inside a protective packaging . Handling around 5 -10 days after payment. Wooden synagogues are an original style of Synagogue architecture that developed in the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth. A unique Jewish artistic and architectural form The wooden synagogue was "an original architectural genre" that drew on several models, including Poland's wooden building traditions and central plan, masonry synagogues in which four massive masonry pillars that define the Bimah rise to support the roof vaulting.[3] Central pillars support the vaulting of only a handful of wooden synagogues. Instead, in wooden synagogues the vaulting and domes are suspended by elaborate roof trusses. Common features shared by wooden synagogues include the independence of the pitched roof from the design of the interior domed ceiling. The outside of a wooden synagogue gave no hint of the domes and multiple, Baroque vaults that would be found within. The exteriors were decidedly plain, giving no hint of the riot of carving, painting, domes, balconies and vaulting inside. The architectural interest of the exterior lay in the large scale of the buildings, the multiple, horizontal lines of the tiered roofs, and the carved corbels that supported them. The elaborate domed and vaulted ceilings were known as raki'a (Hebrew for sky or firmament) and were often painted blue sprinkled with stars. The Bimah was always placed in the center of the room. Wooden synagogues featured a single, large hall. In contrast to contemporary churches, there was no apse. Moreover, while contemporary churches featured imposing vestibules, the entry porches of the wooden synagogues was a low annex, usually with a simple lean-to roof. In these synagogues, the emphasis was on constructing a single, large, high-domed worship space.According to art historian Stephen S. Kayser, the wooden synagogues of Poland with their painted and carved interiors were “a truly original and organic manifestation of artistic expression—the only real Jewish folk art in history.”According to Louis Lozowick, writing in 1947, the wooden synagogues were unique because, unlike all previous synagogues, they were not built in the architectural style of their region and era, but in a newly evolved and uniquely Jewish style, making them "a truly original folk expression," whose "originality does not lie alone in the exterior architecture, it lies equally in the beautiful and intricate wood carving of the interior."[7]Moreover, while in many parts of the world Jews were proscribed from entering the building trades and even from practicing the decorative arts of painting and woodcarving, the wooden synagogues were actually built by Jewish craftsmen.The interior vaulting of the Wolpa Synagogue is described by art historians Maria and Kazimierz Piechotka as having been "the most magnificent of all known wooden ceilings" in Europe. [9] Of course, since Christians were free to build with brick and stone, few European buildings of the scale of the Wolpa synagogue were ever built in wood. The walls of the main hall were 7.2 meters high. The vaulting, under a three-tiered roof, rose to a height of fourteen meters in three tiers marked by fancy balustrades. Each tier was made up of several curving sections faced in wooden paneling to form a graceful, tiered and vaulted dome. The vaulted ceiling was supported by the four wooden corner columns that rose form the bimah, and by trusses in the roof.Art historian Ori Z. Soltes points out that the wooden synagogues, unusual for that period in being large, identifiably Jewish buildings not hidden in courtyards or behind walls, were built not only during a Jewish "intellectual golden age" but in a time and place where "the local Jewish population was equal to or even greater than the Christian population. History According to Maria and Kazimierz Piechotka, the wooden synagogue style developed in the century between the mid-sixteenth and mid-seventh centuries, a period of peace and prosperity for the Polish-Lithuanian Jewish community. In addition to Poland and Lithuania, wooden synagogues are found in modern Belarus and the Ukraine. Wood was abundant and inexpensive in the heavily forested commonwealth, but a large part of the motivation for building in wood rather than masonry was the great difficulty of obtaining government permission to erect masonry synagogues.[12] The wooden synagogues, which featured multi-layered high roofs, multi-beamed domes, galleries, wooden balconies and arches were built to high standards of craftsmanship.[13] Interior decoration The interiors were decorated with wall and ceiling paintings that, in many cases, covered the walls and ceilings entirely, and with elaborately carved wooden Torah Arks.[14][15][16] Thomas Hubka has traced the style of decorative painting in the wooden synagogues to the medieval Hebrew illuminated manuscripts of Ashkenazi Jewry.[17] The intricate wooden decoration of the barrel vaulted ceiling of the Przedbórz Synagogue was considered so beautiful that before the Second World War it drew tourists to the small village of Przedbórz.[18] Regional variations Architectural historian Rachel Wischnitzer has traced regional variations in wooden synagogue style. The interiors of the wooden synagogues of Lithuania were not as exuberantly painted as were synagogues of other regions. Instead, Lithuanian synagogues were notable for architectural details such as ceilings with the boards laid in decorative herringbone patterns. Several Lithuanian synagogues featured corner pavilions. The wooden synagogues of Galicia were notable for their elaborate wall paintings.[1] Influence on art and architecture Frank Stella's Polish village series draws on images of Wooden synagogues published by Maria and Kazimierz Piechotkain in their 1957 book, Wooden synagogues. [19] The Sons of Israel Synagogue, by architects Davis, Brody and Wisniewski, in Lakewood, New Jersey evokes Polish wooden synagogues in modern materials in the shape of its roof.[19] The Temple B'rith Kodesh in Rochester, New York, by architect Pietro Belluschi is roofed with a domed wooden drum intended to evoke the wooden synagogues of Poland. [19] The modern building of Congregation Beth Shalom Rodfe Zedek in Chester, Connecticut was designed by artist Sol LeWitt who conceptualized the "airy" synagogue building, with its shallow dome supported by "exuberant wooden roof beams" an homage to the Wooden synagogues of eastern Europe.[20][21] Surviving wooden synagogues Although it was long thought that none of the wooden synagogues survived the destruction of the First and Second World Wars, it is now known that a number do survive, albeit only of the smaller type.[22][23] List of towns with identified extant wooden synagogues Pakruojis (Polish: Pokrój), the largest of the wooden synagogues that survives in present day Lithuania (built 1801), now in deteriorating condition [23][24] Tirkšliai [23] Seda (Polish: Siady), built in early 20th century [23][25] Žiežmariai (Polish: Żyżmory), in deteriorating condition [23][26] Telšiai (Polish: Telsze), built in 19th century, vacated around 1940 [23][27] Kurkliai (Polish: Kurkle), in Soviet times used as barn, now in deteriorating condition [23][28] Alanta, built in late 19th century, in deteriorating condition [23][29][30] Rozalimas (Polish: Rozalin), built in 19th century [23][31] Kaltinėnai (in Commonwealth gmina Szyłele, Lithuanian: Šilalė)[23] Laukuva [23] Plungė (Polish: Płungiany)[23] Veisiejai (Polish: Wiejsieje)[23] Trakai (Polish: Troki), a Karaite synagogue called Kenesa built in 18th century, with altar (Torah Ark) and interior preserved in good condition [23][32] ******** Polish Wooden Synagogues To many people, the Polish Wooden Synagogue represents the only indigenous Jewish architecture, that is, a style of folk architecture that is both unique to the Jews, and not primarily adapted from something else. The wooden synagogues in Poland were entirely destroyed in WWII, although a handful seem to have survived in Lithuania, Ukraine, and perhaps Belarus. (Some of these have been discovered only recently, as when a barn was explored in detail, and its roots as a synagogue were uncovered by Albert Barry in 1999.) M. & K. Piechotka [1959] trace the development of the wooden synagogue, and document about seventy of them in detail ranging from one illustration to sixteen. 47 others are identified on a map. The Piechotkas' map shows the synagogues as having ranged from Kornik and Cieszowa on the west, past Kiev on the east (Kozin and Makoshino). Perhaps it is more accurate to say that's the range in which the Institute of Polish Architecture documented synagogues. For example, the first synagogues built in Siberia were probably wooden as well.For about 45 years, their 1959 Wooden Synagogues book was the most detailed and comprehensive English-language work on the subject. However it has been superceded by their 2004 book, Heaven's Gates, in English. The text has been expanded, the book reorganized, and the illustrations have been greatly improved, presumably through painstaking work with modern computer software such as Photoshop™. This documentation is only possible because the Institute of Polish Architecture of the Polytechnic of Warsaw had started documenting the synagogues in 1923 or shortly thereafter. Importantly, even though the Institute was destroyed in 1944, much of the archives were successfully hidden from the Nazis during WWII, and recovered soon thereafter. (The rest is lost forever, along with the synagogues themselves.) According to the Piechotkas, most of the original synagogue documentation and photography was done by Szymon Zajczyk, who perished in the holocaust on 27 May 1944. (His photo, on the right, is from the Piechotka 1996 book.) The Piechotkas trace both the development of the Jewish Community in Poland and the development of synagogue architecture. Some commonly seen features were: A very ornate raised bimah (platform from which the torah and prayers are read) with a high canopy above it. A women's section at the side, in a balcony, or both. Interior decoration that was often, but by no means always, quite ornate, with very complex and professional carvings, especially on the bimah and ark. Interiors that were often fully and ornately painted with colorful decorations, often very professionally done. Some synagogues were painted in a more folksy style. Although there were large wooden churches, the wooden synagogues were unique in having large spans essentially spanning the entire width of the building without interior columns. The synagogues were usually on a street heading away from the main church in town. In Przedbórz, for example, the church is up on a hill above the town square; the synagogue is down by the river, on the opposite side of the square. See them on the town map. Read more about Przedbórz's Wooden Synagogue. See 34 of Moshe Verbin's wooden synagogue models. (You have to scroll way down the page to see the model thumbnails. Click on a small picture to get to the larger pictures. The page includes various additional historical comments by the Piechotkas and others.) Read about Albert Barry's synagogue video, available from Florida Atlantic University in English, Hebrew or Yiddish, with narration by Theodore Bikel. ebay 695 folder 171
Price: 395 USD
Location: TEL AVIV
End Time: 2024-09-24T11:51:20.000Z
Shipping Cost: 29 USD
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Item must be returned within: 30 Days
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Religion: Judaism
Country of Manufacture: Israel
Country/Region of Manufacture: Israel