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This portrait depicts the first chief rabbi of Great Britain, Aaron Uri Feivel Hart (1670–1756). Hart was born in Breslau and followed his merchant brother to England. His only published work, the…
In 1670, Amsterdam’s Portuguese Jewish community commissioned a new synagogue, which, when finished, was the largest in the world. The master mason Elias Bouman, a non-Jew who had helped design the…
This medal for St. Stephanskirche in Vienna provides an example of the style innovated by its engraver Jacques Wiener (1815–1899), in which the exterior of a building appears on one side and the…
This medal by master engraver Charles Wiener honors the Jewish philanthropist Sir Moses Montefiore (1784–1885) and his wife, Lady Judith Montefiore (1784–1862). Montefiore was an activist on behalf of…
Mark Antokolski began his career as a sculptor by focusing on Jewish themes, but he soon moved on to portrayals of historical figures. This monumental sculpture, Ivan the Terrible, was purchased by…
Although few examples of the work of embroiderer Jacob Koppel Gans remain, he is best known for this Torah ark curtain and valance, dating to 1772 or 1773, made of velvet and embroidered with metallic…
The purpose of the Torah crown is visually to augment the status of the Torah scroll, emphasizing its importance and centrality to Jewish life. These magnificent silver ornaments are placed over the…
Paper cuts have been a tradition of Jewish folk art, with the earliest record of one dating to the fourteenth century. Given the widespread availability of paper in Europe by the mid-nineteenth…
Congregation Shearith Israel was the first Jewish congregation established in North America, and the only Jewish congregation in New York City from 1654 until 1825. Between 1654 and 1730, it used…
The Dohány Street Synagogue in Budapest is the largest synagogue in Europe, and the second largest in the world, capable of accommodating three thousand people. The Moorish- and Byzantine-inspired…
