Home
   Under Reconstruction!
Art Alone

Img. ID: 14843

© Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Photographer: Tel Aviv Museum of Art,

Yom Kippur prayer in a synagogue. Gathered around a bimah, the men and boys are depicted in the foreground of the picture. The women are seen behind them in the low, open gallery of the ezrat nashim (women’s gallery)..   The men are bearded, wearing talitot, and depicted in various ages, poses and expressions of prayer and contemplation. The grey-bearded man sitting in front of the carpet-covered bimah--wearing a shtreimel and holding a torah in his lap—is a portrait of the artist’s father. The torah-mantle is adorned with an embroidered star of David and an inscription in block Hebrew letters over a grayish background reads: Donated in memory of our teacher the late Moshe Gottlieb the righteous in the year 5638 (  כ"ת/נדבה/לזכרון נשמת/המנוח כמהר"ר משה/גאטליעב זצ"ל/תרל"ח/לפ"ק). A torah pointer is hanging from one of its azai hayim.   The artist depicted himself in the painting three times: First, he is pictured as a young man standing to the right of the bimah while leaning on it with his elbow in a melancholic pose.  His head rests on his right hand; his left hand holds a closed book in which his finger is tucked as a marker. His facial features bear a likeness to the artist at the time of the painting. He is wearing a small fur-trimmed hat and a long white coat with colored stripes over his talit katan. A broad sash is wrapped around his waist. A medallion with a star of David around the Hebrew word 'king' is hanging from his neck. The artist is depicted twice more--these times as a child--on the front left and on the front right of the picture. On the left--is a boy wearing a silver kippah decorated with blue and red stones, a golden floral brocade coat with a silver collar and tucks, a matching shirt below, and black pants. A similar medallion with a star of David is hanging around his neck, this time it is inscribed with the Hebrew letters M.G.--the artist's initials. The boy's right hand is resting on an open book where the word מלך (King) is visible, next to a shofar and a red siddur bag, all lying on a low curved? bench that stands at the foot of the bimah. The same facial portrait of the artist as a boy is seen on the left. This time he is sitting next to a brown-bearded man --probably a young version of his father--.dressed with a dark kippah and coat. The boy is leaning against his father who reads from a big book that stands on a table covered with a red cloth in front of both of them. . A Hebrew inscription on the wall behind them reads:

“ Rise up,Lord, and let thine enemies be scattered/ Blessed be God who…" (קומה ה' ויפוצו אובךspellingוינוסו/ברוך ה' אשר…).

The first line quotes Num. 10:35 The source of the second line is vague.  

Three men are depicted behind the bimah: at the center, next to the central pillar, stands a grey-haired man wearing a prayer shawl over his head and a silverish/gold-coloured embroidered skullcap under it. Next to him on the left a dark-bearded man is reading from a book, leaning closely over it. On the far left an old, white-haired man is raising his right hand in a blessing gesture. A profile of a closed-eyed, dark-complexioned man is depicted behind them, just before the central pillar, holding an open book close to his lips.   The crowded women-section contains traditionally dressed (רובנס - תלבושות הנשים?) women in various ages and poses. All have head-coverings and several are wearing sterntichl and breastplates characteristic of German-Jewish women of the time. Some women are standing, some sitting. Some are looking into the men’s section or are reading from their mahzorim; others are conversing amongst themselves. The artist's fiancée, Lauran ?SHenschel, is depicted twice: Once, she is the young woman standing to the left of the column, holding a book close to her chest. She is also the young woman standing at the front-right section of the gallery who leans towards a seated older woman next to her on her right, probably her mother.     The ceiling above the women's section is vaulted, supported by round columns. A hanging curtain is in the rear of the gallery, partially blocking the two circular, colored-glass windows on the back wall. On the far left, large lit candles are perched on the wall separating the two sections. 

Name/Title
Jews Praying on the Day of Atonement | Unknown
Object
Object Detail
Settings
Unknown
Date
1878
Synagogue active dates
Reconstruction dates
Historical Origin
Unknown
Community type
Congregation
Unknown
Location
Unknown |
Site
Unknown
School/Style
Unknown|
Period
Unknown
Period Detail
Collection
Documentation / Research project
Unknown
Material / Technique
Oil on canvas
Material Stucture
Material Decoration
Material Bonding
Material Inscription
Material Additions
Material Cloth
Material Lining
Tesserae Arrangement
Density
Colors
Construction material
Measurements
Height
245 cm
Length
Width
192 cm
Depth
Circumference
Thickness
Diameter
Weight
Axis
Panel Measurements
Condition
Extant
Documented by CJA
Surveyed by CJA
Present Usage
Present Usage Details
Condition of Building Fabric
Architectural Significance type
Historical significance: Event/Period
Historical significance: Collective Memory/Folklore
Historical significance: Person
Architectural Significance: Style
Architectural Significance: Artistic Decoration
Urban significance
Significance Rating
Textual Content
Unknown |
Languages of inscription
Unknown
Shape / Form
Unknown
0
Ornamentation
Custom
Contents
Codicology
Scribes
Script
Number of Lines
Ruling
Pricking
Quires
Catchwords
Hebrew Numeration
Blank Leaves
Direction/Location
Façade (main)
Endivances
Location of Torah Ark
Location of Apse
Location of Niche
Location of Reader's Desk
Location of Platform
Temp: Architecture Axis
Arrangement of Seats
Location of Women's Section
Direction Prayer
Direction Toward Jerusalem
Coin
Coin Series
Coin Ruler
Coin Year
Denomination
Signature
Signature in LL. Maurycy Gottlieb 1878 in Latin cursive letters. Black brush.
Colophon
Scribal Notes
Watermark
Hallmark
Group
Group
Group
Group
Group
Trade Mark
Binding
Decoration Program
Summary and Remarks
Remarks
Suggested Reconsdivuction
History/Provenance
Ko(:)nigsberg, Zionist Organization. 1986 - TA, Heichal haAtzmaut
Main Surveys & Excavations
Bibliography
???? ??????? (?????), ???? ????: ??????? ??????, 1856-1879. ??????? ?? ???? ??????, 1991.
Short Name
Full Name
Volume
Page
Type
Documenter
Dana Peleg | 11.1999
Author of description
Dana Peleg | 12,1999
Architectural Drawings
|
Computer Reconstruction
|
Section Head
Haya Friedberg | 2.2000
Language Editor
Judy Cardozo | 23.5.00
Donor
|
Negative/Photo. No.