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Interior of a Synagogue

c. 1725-1735

Alessandro Magnasco

(Italian, 1667-1749)

Italy, 18th century

Oil on canvas

Framed: 140.5 x 167.5 x 6 cm (55 5/16 x 65 15/16 x 2 3/8 in.); Unframed: 122 x 148.5 cm (48 1/16 x 58 7/16 in.)

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1930.22

Location

212 Baroque Painting and Sculpture

Description

The Jewish synagogue was Magnasco's favorite and most frequently painted subject, here presented in a mystical, dark, and imaginative way. Expansive architectural space creates room for a multitude of tiny, fantastical figures with elongated limbs. These characters thoroughly engage in the service as they respond with emotion and expressive gestures. Flashes of light dash across the surface against a dark, muted palette of earthy tones to create an otherworldly effect and suggest spiritual presence. The composition invites the viewer to enter the space and experience the service. Though he used characteristic elements of Baroque composition and was strongly influenced by Venetian painting, Magnasco's loose brushwork, caricature-like elongated figures, and mysterious subject matter set him apart. Magnasco peers into another world, that of a curious sector of society: he was not Jewish and probably perceived the Jews as outsiders. At the dawn of the Enlightenment in Europe, many progressive aristocratic families commissioned paintings by Magnasco, suggesting the painter's support for Enlightenment ideals such as religious tolerance. Magnasco's personal views on Judaism in Italy remain unknown.

Provenance

Italico Brass (Venice, Italy), 1870-1943, sold through Harold Parsons to the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1930.

Benno Geiger, 1882-1965 (Vienna, Austria)

D'Atri Gallery (Paris, France)

Private collection, sold Hotel Drouot, Paris, 1928

Citations

Paintings in the Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland]: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1945. Reproduced: p. 55 archive.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 430 archive.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 142 archive.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 142 archive.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 141 archive.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Catalogue of Paintings, Part 3: European Paintings of the 16th, 17th, and 18th Centuries. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1982. Mentioned: p. 374-376; Reproduced: p. 375

Franchini Guelfi, Fausta, and Veronique Damian. Alessandro Magnasco (1667-1749): les années de la maturité d'un peintre anticonformiste (Exh. cat. Galerie Canesso, Paris, and Museo di Strada Nuova--Palazzo Bianco, Genoa, 2015). Mentioned: p. 25-26; Reproduced: p. 26, fig. 22

Exhibition history

Venice, 1929: "Il Settecento Italiano," cat. no. 14.

CMA, 1936: "The Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition of CMA," cat. no. 158, pl. XXXVIII.

Springfield (Massachusets) Museum of Fine Arts, 1938: "Alessandro Magnasco, ca. 1677-ca. 1749," cat. no. 3. cat. no. 6.

New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1938: "Tiepolo and His Contemporaries," cat. no. 6.

New York, World's Fair, May 27-Oct. 31, 1939: "Masterpieces of Art," cat. no. 230.

San Francisco, M.H de Young Memorial Museum, Dec. 28, 1939-Jan. 28, 1940: "Seven Centuries of Painting," cat. no. Y-86.

CMA, Feb. 7-Mar. 7, 1940: "Masterpieces of Art," cat. no. 47, pl. XVI.

Genoa, Palazzo Bianco, June 18-October 15, 1949: "Mostra del Magnasco," cat. no. 72, pls. 80, 81; L'Orangerie, Paris, France.

Philadelphia Museum of Art, Nov. 3, 1950- Feb. 11, 1951: "Diamond Jubilee Exhibition, Masterpieces of Painting," cat. no. 32.

CMA, 1956: "The International Language," no catalogue.

CMA, 1960: "Paths of Abstract Art," cat. no. 7.

Milan, Italy, Comune di Milano, Palazzo Reale, March 20-July 7, 1996: "Alessandro Magnasco," cat #

The Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition: The Official Art Exhibit of the Great Lakes Exposition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 26-October 12, 1936).

Masterpieces of Art from the New York and San Francisco World's Fairs. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (February 7-March 7, 1940).

The Silver Jubilee Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 23-September 28, 1941).

Art: The International Language. The Cleveland Museum of Art (October 2-November 4, 1956).

Paths of Abstract Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art (October 4-November 13, 1960).

Cite this page

{{cite web|title=Interior of a Synagogue|url=https://clevelandart.org/art/1930.22|author=Alessandro Magnasco|year=c. 1725-1735|access-date=27 January 2020|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

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Interior of a Synagogue

Interior of a Synagogue

Alessandro Magnasco

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