The Torah Ark in Renaissance Poland: A Jewish Revival of Classical Antiquity

401 Pages·2013·19.75 MB·English

by  Ilia M. Rodov

contents I
The Torah Ark in Renaissance Poland
II contents
Jewish and Christian
Perspectives Series
Editorial Board
David Golinkin – Alberdina Houtman
Marcel Poorthuis – Joshua Schwartz
Freek van der Steen
Advisory Board
Yehoyada Amir – David Berger – Shaye Cohen
Judith Frishman – Martin Goodman
Clemens Leonhard – Tobias Nicklas – Eyal Regev
Gerard Rouwhorst – Seth Schwartz – Yossi Turner
VOLUME 23
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/jcp
contents III
The Torah Ark in Renaissance
Poland
A Jewish Revival of Classical Antiquity
By
Ilia M. Rodov
LEIDEN • BOSTON
2013
IV Bar-Ilan University after tchoe Inntgeebnortg sRennert Center for Jerusalem
Studies
University of Tilburg: Faculty of Catholic Theology,
The Netherlands
Protestant Theological University, The Netherlands

Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies, Israel
The editors gratefully acknowledge the fijinancial support of the Ingeborg Rennert Center for
Jerusalem Studies.
LLiibbrraarryy o of fC Coongnrgerses sCsa Ctaalotagliongg-iinng-P-iunb-lPicuabtiloicna Dtiaotan Data
Binder, Stephanie E.
Rodov, Ilia M.
 Tertullian, on idolatry and Mishnah ‘Avodah zarah : questioning the parting of the ways between
C Thhries tTiaonrsa ahn adr Jke wins iRne lnataei sasnatinqcueit Py o/ lbayn Sdte :p ah Jaenwiei sEh. B rienvdievra.l of classical antiquity / by Ilia M. Rodov.
    ppa.g cems .c —m (--Je (wJeiswhi asnhd a Cnhdr iCsthiarnis ptiearnsp peectrisvpees csetirvieess ; sve. r2i2e)s ; volume 23)
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Christianity. I. Title.
-Christianity. 7. Christianity and other religions--Judaism. I. Title.
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2012045779
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contents V
CONTENTS
List of Figures and Plates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   VII
Note to the Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  XVII
Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  XIX
Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XXIX
1. Medieval Synagogues in Cracow and Kazimierz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  1
 The Jews in Medieval Cracow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  1
 Patronage over Medieval Synagogues: Religious Duty,
  Collective Project, and Private Enterprise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
 How Old Is the Old Synagogue in Kazimierz? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  14
 The Last Two-Nave Synagogue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  22
2. The Renaissance Reaches Jewish Kazimierz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  29
 In the Shadow of the Italian Renaissance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  29
 Renaissance Influences on the Jews of Kazimierz and the
  Isserl Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  34
 The Establishment of the Isserls’ Synagogue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  43
 The Expansion of the Isserls’ Synagogue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  49
3. The Isserls’ Torah Ark: Decontructing the Bricolage . . . . . . . . . . . . .  55
 Restoring the Original Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  55
 Relics Adopted? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  57
 A Relic Rejected? The Sixteenth-Century Censure of
  Synagogue Sculptures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  61
 Imitating the New Style. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  73
 Creating the New Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  75
4. The Isserls’ Torah Ark: Recontructing the Unity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  81
 Triumphal Gate: An Architectural Model from Padua to
  Kazimierz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  82
 Imitation of the Temple . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  90
 The Crown of the Torah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  94
 The Shield of the Messiah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  99
 The Tree of Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
 A Message Encrypted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
VI contents
5. Developments of the Isserls’ Model in Kazimierz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
 The Old Synagogue: A Renaissance Renovation of a Gothic
  Building . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
 The New Torah Ark in the Old Synagogue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
 The High Synagogue: An Italian Jewish Patron in Kazimierz?. . 128
 The Torah Ark in the High Synagogue: Refitting the Puzzle’s
  Pieces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
 The Kupah: A Collective Patronage over the Synagogue . . . . . . . 137
 The Torah Ark in the Kupah Synagogue: A “Folk Renaissance”
  in the Baroque Age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
6. From Kazimierz to Pińczów and Szydłów . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
 The Jews of Pińczów under the Protestants and Catholics . . . . . 144
 The Pińczów Synagogue: A Protestant Influence or a Bequest? . . 148
 Szydłów: A Synagogue in a Royal Town . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
 The Masonry Workshop in Pińczów . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
7. Revivals of Ancient Art in the Design of Late-Sixteenth- to Mid-
Seventeenth-Century Arks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
 The Triangular Pediment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
 Obelisks and Pyramids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
 The Seven-Branched Candelabrum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Afterword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Illustration Credits and Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
Index of Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
Index of Places . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
Figures and Plates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . after page 240
list of figures and plates VII
LIST OF FIGURES AND PLATES
All figures and plates are placed in separate sections
in the back of this volume.
Figures
1. Toledo, Samuel Ha-Levi Abulafia’s synagogue (El Tránsito). Prayer
hall, ca. 1357 and later alterations.
2. Toledo, Samuel Ha-Levi Abulafia’s synagogue (El Tránsito). Dedica-
tory inscription to left of Torah ark, ca. 1357.
3. John Strożecki, “Cracow and Its Vicinities” in Hartmann Schedel,
Liber Cronicarum (Nuremberg, 1493).
4. Worms, synagogue. Prayer hall, 1174/75, and later reconstructions.
Photograph, before 1938.
5. Prague, Altneuschul. Southern nave of prayer hall, looking eastward,
late-13th century.
6. Albrecht Altdorfer, “Prayer Hall of the Synagogue in Regensburg be-
fore Its Destruction.” Engraving, 1519.
7. Abraham Neu, “Interior of the Worms Synagogue.” Lithograph, before
1842.
8. Heinrich Hoffmann, “Interior of the Worms Synagogue.” Watercolour,
before 1842.
9. Carl Hertzog, “Interior of the Worms Synagogue.” Lithograph, ca. 1860.
10. Cracow, Wawel Cathedral. Franciscus Florentinus and Jörg Huber,
Tomb of John Albrecht, 1501–05.
11. Cracow, Wawel Cathedral. Bartolommeo Berrecci, Sigismund Chapel:
exterior, 1517–33.
12. Cracow, Wawel Cathedral, Sigismund Chapel. Bartolommeo Berrecci
and his workshop, Chapel’s structure, wall decorations, royal throne
and tomb of Sigismund I, 1524–31; Santi Gucci, Tomb of Queen Anna,
tomb of Sigismund Augustus and alterations to tomb’s niche, 1574–75.
13. Moses Isserles (the Rema), Torat ha-Olah (Prague: Mordechai ha-
Cohen, 1570), frontispiece.
VIII list of figures and plates
14. Prague, Pinchas Synagogue: Ground plan (the building of the 1520s is
marked in black). Drawing by R. Ječný.
15. Prague, Pinchas Synagogue: Ground plan (the extension of 1535 is
marked in black). Drawing by R. Ječný.
16. Neuchâtel, former monastery church. Carved impost, ca. 1170.
17. Rūmī pattern engraved on ivory, Sicily, 11th or 12th century.
18. Worms, Cathedral. Lion sculpture in front of southern façade, 11th or
12th century.
19. Verona, San Zeno. Master Nicolao, Lion sculpture supporting portico,
ca. 1135.
20. Lund, Cathedral. Former bishop’s chair and St. Mary’s altar, ca. 1080–
1145.
21. Book of Exodus (Prague: Gershom ha-Cohen, 1518), frontispiece.
22. Rome, Scola Catalana. Torah ark, 1522/23. Rome, Museo ebraico.
23. Cracow, Wawel Cathedral. Bartolommeo Berrecci and his workshop,
Sigismund Chapel; detail: capital of pilaster to right of entrance arch,
1524–31.
24. Cracow, Wawel Cathedral. Bartolommeo Berrecci and his workshop,
Sigismund Chapel; detail: coat of arms of Sigismund I on southern
wall exterior, 1524–31.
25. David ben Solomon Vital, Crown of the Torah (Constantinople: Eliezer
Soncino, 1536), frontispiece.
26. Book of Leviticus (Prague: Gershom ha-Cohen, 1530), frontispiece (de-
tail).
27. Prayer Book (Prague: Gershom ha-Cohen and companions, 1512),
printers’ marks and colophon.
28. Cracow, Wawel Cathedral. Bartolommeo Berrecci and his workshop,
Sigismund Chapel: southern tympanum, 1524–29.
29. Cracow, Wawel Cathedral, Tomicki Chapel. Bartolommeo Berrecci or
Gian Maria Padovano, tomb of Bishop Piotr Tomicki, ca. 1535.
30. Cracow, Wawel Cathedral. Gian Maria Padovano and his workshop,
tomb of Archbishop Piotr Gamrat, 1545–47. Drawing by Stanisław
Cercha, 1899.
31. Cracow, St. Barbara’s Church. Cracow workshop, frame of unknown
epitaph, mid-16th century.
32. Prague, Altneuschul. Arboreal relief in tympanum above entrance to
prayer hall, late-13th century.
33. Prague, Altneuschul. Pediment of Torah ark, late-13th century.
list of figures and plates IX
34. Tarnów, cathedral. Cracow workshop, tomb of the three Jan Tarnows-
kis, 1550–ca. 1561.
35. Padua, Scuola Tedesca. Torah ark, ca. 1525. Photograph, before 1901.
36. Florence. Leon Battista Alberti, façade of Santa Maria Novella, 1456–
70.
37. Rome, Arch of Constantine, 312–15 CE.
38. Leon Battista Alberti, drawing of church façade, De re ædificatoria,
1485, fol. 306r, detail.
39. Leon Battista Alberti, drawing of gate, De re ædificatoria, 1485, fol.
374v, detail.
40. Padua, University. Andrea Moroni, entrance gate to Il Bò campus,
1540s.
41. “Weighing Shekels for the Temple,” Worms Mahzor, vol. I, Germany
(Würzburg?), 1272. Jerusalem, National Library of Israel, Heb. 40 781/1,
fol. 39v.
42. “Moses and Aaron in the Tabernacle of the Covenant,” Book of Num-
bers, Lobbes Bible, 1084. Tournai, Bibliothèque du Séminaire, MS 1,
fol. 77r (detail).
43. “Christ, Ecclesia, and Synagoga,” Lambert of Saint Omer, Liber Flori-
dus, Saint Omer, before 1121. Ghent, Centraale Bibliotheek van de
Rijksuniversiteit, Cod. 1125(92), fol. 253r (detail).
44. “The Cantor at the Torah Ark,” prayer book, Germany, ca. 1395–98.
Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica, Cod. Vat. ebr. 324, fol. 73v (detail).
45. Pediment of Torah ark, ca. 1451, from a synagogue in Nuremberg. Pho-
tograph, before 1927.
46. “Moses Receiving the Law on Mount Sinai,” Second Darmstadt Hag-
gadah, Southern Italy, late-15th century. Darmstadt, Hessische Lan-
des-und Hochschulbibliothek, Cod. Or. 28, fol. 9v (detail).
47. Pediment of Torah ark, ca. 1543, from the Scuola Grande in Mantua.
Jerusalem, Umberto Nahon Museum of Italian Jewish Art.
48. Prague, Pinchas Synagogue. Frieze of portal in prayer hall, 1535. Draw-
ing by Svetlana Sirota.
49. “Quincunx Polonia” in Stanisław Orzechowski, Rozmowa albo Dyjalog
około egzekucyjej polskiej korony (Cracow, 1563).
50. “Pyramis ex quincunx” in Orzechowski, Rozmowa.
51. “Typus poloniæ regni” in Orzechowski, Rozmowa.
52. Lucas Cranach the Elder, “Altarpiece with the Lamentation, St. Peter,
and St. Barnabas,” coloured etching, 1518–20. Berlin, Staatliche Mu-