Obj. ID: 6794
Jewish Architecture  Great Synagogue in Novohrad-Volynskyi, Ukraine

According to unfounded data, the Great Synagogue was erected in 1680–1700.[1] 

A memoirist, Azriel Uri (alias Maliar, b. 1892), described it as follows: “the Great Synagogue excelled in its beauty and was built in a special style. High columns supported a blue dome, on which twinkling stars shone; depictions of signs of the Zodiac and signs of the Tribes of Israel surrounded the domed ceiling of the synagogue. It was one of the oldest and most magnificent buildings in the town. […] In one of the corners under the ceiling, was depicted – among paintings of landscapes – a man fishing, about which a story was widespread in town, that this is a portrait of the artist who painted the synagogue; and that after he finished the painting, he became deranged, disconnected himself from a rope on which he hung himself, and fell to his death. It was viewed as a punishment for transgression of the prohibition ‘thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image’ by painting his portrait in the synagogue.”[2]

According to another testimony, the synagogue was built in 1740, by permission of Prince Radziwiłł (sic! it is a mistake since the Radziwiłłs never owned this town) and the painter, who portrayed himself and crashed, was not Jewish.[3]