id: 111691
accession number: 1930.22
share license status: CC0
url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1930.22
updated: 2020-11-04 19:46:08.335000
Interior of a Synagogue, c. 1725-1735. Alessandro Magnasco (Italian, 1667-1749). 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.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1930.22
title: Interior of a Synagogue
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creation date: c. 1725-1735
creation date earliest: 1725
creation date latest: 1735
current location: 212 Baroque Painting and Sculpture
creditline: Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
copyright:
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culture: Italy, 18th century
technique: oil on canvas
department: European Painting and Sculpture
collection: P - Italian 18th Century
type: Painting
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catalogue raisonne:
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CREATORS
* Alessandro Magnasco (Italian, 1667-1749) - artist
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measurements: 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.)
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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
title: The Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition: The Official Art Exhibit of the Great Lakes Exposition
opening date: 1936-06-26T04:00:00
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).
title: Masterpieces of Art from the New York and San Francisco World's Fairs
opening date: 1940-02-07T05:00:00
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).
title: The Silver Jubilee Exhibition
opening date: 1941-06-23T04:00:00
The Silver Jubilee Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 23-September 28, 1941).
title: Art: The International Language
opening date: 1956-10-02T04:00:00
Art: The International Language. The Cleveland Museum of Art (October 2-November 4, 1956).
title: Paths of Abstract Art
opening date: 1960-10-04T04:00:00
Paths of Abstract Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art (October 4-November 13, 1960).
title: Alessandro Magnasco - 1667-1749
opening date: 1996-03-20T05:00:00
Alessandro Magnasco - 1667-1749. Palazzo Reale (organizer) (March 20-July 7, 1996).
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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS
* 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 #
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PROVENANCE
Private collection, sold Hotel Drouot, Paris, 1928
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D'Atri Gallery (Paris, France)
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Benno Geiger, 1882-1965 (Vienna, Austria)
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Italico Brass (Venice, Italy), 1870-1943, sold through Harold Parsons to the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1930.
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fun fact:
digital description:
wall 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.
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RELATED WORKS
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CITATIONS
Paintings in the Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland]: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1945.
page number: Reproduced: p. 55
url: https://archive.org/details/CMAPaintings1945/page/n63
The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958.
page number: Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 430
url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1958/page/n79
Cleveland Museum of Art, Edward B. Henning. Paths of Abstract Art. Cleveland, Ohio: H.N. Abrams, 1960.
page number: Reproduced: no. 7, p. 6; mentioned: pp. 6, 23
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The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966.
page number: Reproduced: p. 142
url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1966/page/n166
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969.
page number: Reproduced: p. 142
url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1969/page/n166
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978.
page number: Reproduced: p. 141
url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1978/page/n161
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.
page number: Mentioned: p. 374-376; Reproduced: p. 375
url:
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).
page number: Mentioned: p. 25-26; Reproduced: p. 26, fig. 22
url:
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IMAGES
web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1930.22/1930.22_web.jpg
print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1930.22/1930.22_print.jpg
full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1930.22/1930.22_full.tif