The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 13, 2025

Interior of a Synagogue

c. 1725–35

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 among Magnasco's most frequently painted subjects, here presented in a mystical and imaginative way. Expansive architectural space creates room for a multitude of tiny, fantastical figures with elongated limbs. These characters respond to the service with emotion and expressive gestures. Flashes of light dash across the surface against a dark, muted palette of earthy tones suggesting an otherworldly 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, elongated figures, and mysterious subject matter set him apart. Magnasco peers into a world of which he was not part: he was not Jewish and probably perceived Jews as outsiders. At the dawn of the Enlightenment in Europe progressive aristocratic families commissioned paintings by Magnasco, suggesting the painter's support for Enlightenment ideals which included religious tolerance, but Magnasco's personal views on Judaism in Italy remain unknown.
  • Private collection, sold Hotel Drouot, Paris, 1928
    D'Atri Gallery (Paris, France)
    Benno Geiger, 1882-1965 (Vienna, Austria)
    Italico Brass (Venice, Italy), 1870-1943, sold through Harold Parsons to the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1930.
    1930-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • "The Synagogue, by Alessandro Magnasco." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 17, no. 4, part. 1 (April 1930): 66-73. Mentioned: p. 66-68, 73; Reproduced: p. 70 www.jstor.org
    Francis, Henry. "Loans to Important Exhibitions." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 26, no. 7 (July 1939): 123 Mentioned: p. 123 www.jstor.org
    Paintings in the Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland]: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1945. Reproduced: p. 55 archive.org
    Prasse, Leona. "A Drawing by Alessandro Magnasco." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 36, no. 4 (April 1949): 55-57. Mentioned: p. 55 www.jstor.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
    Cleveland Museum of Art, Edward B. Henning. Paths of Abstract Art. Cleveland, Ohio: H.N. Abrams, 1960. Reproduced: no. 7, p. 6; mentioned: pp. 6, 23
    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
    Mende, Charlotte, and Alessandro Magnasco. Alessandro Magnasco (1667-1749): eine visuelle Religionsgeschichte. Berlin : Reimer, 2022. Mentioned: p.53; reproduced: p. 55, abb. 9
  • Alessandro Magnasco - 1667-1749. Palazzo Reale (organizer) (March 20-July 7, 1996).
    Milan, Italy, Comune di Milano, Palazzo Reale, March 20-July 7, 1996: "Alessandro Magnasco," cat #
    Paths of Abstract Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (October 5-November 13, 1960).
    CMA, 1960: "Paths of Abstract Art," cat. no. 7.
    Art: The International Language. The Cleveland Museum of Art (October 2-November 4, 1956).
    CMA, 1956: "The International Language," no catalogue.
    Philadelphia Museum of Art, Nov. 3, 1950- Feb. 11, 1951: "Diamond Jubilee Exhibition, Masterpieces of Painting," cat. no. 32.
    Genoa, Palazzo Bianco, June 18-October 15, 1949: "Mostra del Magnasco," cat. no. 72, pls. 80, 81; L'Orangerie, Paris, France.
    The Silver Jubilee Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 23-September 28, 1941).
    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).
    CMA, Feb. 7-Mar. 7, 1940: "Masterpieces of Art," cat. no. 47, pl. XVI.
    San Francisco, M.H de Young Memorial Museum, Dec. 28, 1939-Jan. 28, 1940: "Seven Centuries of Painting," cat. no. Y-86.
    New York, World's Fair, May 27-Oct. 31, 1939: "Masterpieces of Art," cat. no. 230.
    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.
    The Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition: The Official Art Exhibit of the Great Lakes Exposition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 26-October 4, 1936).
    CMA, 1936: "The Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition of CMA," cat. no. 158, pl. XXXVIII.
    Venice, 1929: "Il Settecento Italiano," cat. no. 14.
  • {{cite web|title=Interior of a Synagogue|url=false|author=Alessandro Magnasco|year=c. 1725–35|access-date=13 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1930.22