List of Figures and Plates; Note to the Reader; Foreword; Acknowledgements; 1. MEDIEVAL SYNAGOGUES IN CRACOW AND KAZIMIERZ; The Jews in Medieval Cracow; Patronage over Medieval Synagogues: Religious Duty, Collective Project, and Private Enterprise; How Old Is the Old Synagogue in Kazimierz?; The Last Two-Nave Synagogue; 2. THE RENAISSANCE REACHES JEWISH KAZIMIERZ; In the Shadow of the Italian Renaissance; Renaissance Influences on the Jews of Kazimierz and the Isserl Family; The Establishment of the Isserls' Synagogue; The Expansion of the Isserls' Synagogue
3. THE ISSERLS' TORAH ARK: DECONSTRUCTING THE BRICOLAGERestoring the Original Structure; Relics Adopted?; A Relic Rejected? The Sixteenth-Century Censure of Synagogue Sculptures; Imitating the New Style; Creating the New Style; 4. THE ISSERLS' TORAH ARK: RECONSTRUCTING THE UNITY; Triumphal Gate: An Architectural Model from Padua to Kazimierz; Imitation of the Temple; The Crown of the Torah; The Shield of the Messiah; The Tree of Life; A Message Encrypted; 5. DEVELOPMENTS OF THE ISSERLS' MODEL IN KAZIMIERZ; The Old Synagogue: a Renaissance Renovation of a Gothic Building
The New Torah Ark in the Old SynagogueThe High Synagogue: An Italian Jewish Patron in Kazimierz?; The Torah Ark in the High Synagogue: Refitting the Puzzle's Pieces; The Kupah: A Collective Patronage over the Synagogue; The Torah Ark in the Kupah Synagogue: A "Folk Renaissance" in the Baroque Age; 6. FROM KAZIMIERZ TO PIŃCZÓW AND SZYDŁÓW; The Jews of Pińczów under the Protestants and Catholics; The Pińczów Synagogue: A Protestant Influence or a Bequest?; Szydłów: A Synagogue in a Royal Town; The Masonry Workshop in Pińczów
7. REVIVALS OF ANCIENT ART IN THE DESIGN OF LATE-SIXTEENTH- TO MID-SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY ARKSThe Triangular Pediment; Obelisks and Pyramids; The Seven-Branched Candelabrum; Afterword; Illustration Credits and Sources; Bibliography; Index of Names; Index of Places
Summary
The book explores the patronage, formation, and symbolism of the Renaissance Torah ark in Polish synagogues
