THE GREAT SYNAGOGUE OF FLORENCE During the

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THE GREAT SYNAGOGUE OF FLORENCE
During the 19th century, the creation of synagogues in Europe surpassed that of all
previous centuries taken together. 1 This was possible for two main reasons: Jewish
emancipation and Europe’s urbanization. Moreover, until the Revolutions of 1848,
synagogues remained for the most part bound to a particular type of neo-Classic or
Romantic architecture. It is with German architect Gottfried Semper that synagogues begin
to be built and designed by taking into account to the Jews’ cosmopolitanism, including
oriental designs as well as Byzantine floor plans. This style gave rise to the so-called
“Moorish-style synagogues” with the Dohány Street synagogue in Budapest (1852–57) and
Berlin’s Neue Synagoge (1859–66) as the most magnificent examples of such development.
It is in this context that Florentine Jewry, whose religious space was confined to two
small synagogues within the ghetto walls, had the opportunity to create a “visible sign” that
testified that “the unhappy days of persecution […] had now passed.” 2 The goal of
Florentine Jews was to create an “emancipation synagogue,” a building whose sole purpose
was for Jews to observe their religion, without merely adapting a pre-existing building as had
been the case in the ghetto.3 While the style of the new Florence Synagogue is important in
the analysis of how the community as a whole responded to emancipation, the decision of
where to locate the synagogue itself is perhaps even more important. Indeed, the debate
concerning the new location saw two main factions: some argued for the construction of the
new synagoguge far from the city center (where the ghetto had been) as for Jews to be
Rabinowitz, Louis Isaac, and Davidovitch, David and Zvieli, Benjamin and Goldman, Karla and Posner, Raphael and Avi-Yonah,
Michael. “Synagogue,” in Berenbaum, Michael and Skolnik, Fred (Ed., 2007). Encyclopedia Judaica, Vol. 19. 2nd edition. Detroit: Macmillan
Reference: 377-378.
2 Jonà, Salomone (1883). “Brindisi offerto da Salomone Jonà, Rabbino Maggiore di Modena,” Ricordo della inaugurazione del nuovo tempio
israelitico in Firenze, 40–41 as quoted in Lerner, Scott L. (2000). “The Narrating Architecture of Emancipation,” Jewish Social Studies, Vol. 6,
No. 3: 4.
3 Liscia Bemporad, Dora and Tedeschi Falco, Annamarcella (Ed., 1995). Tuscany Jewish Itineraries: Place, History and Art. Marsilio Pub.
Regione Toscana. 53-62.
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“scattered and the general population spared watching them flock to the Temple.”4 Others
were the deeply opposed to this proposal, as “another Jewish quarter, much too similar to
the old ghetto, would have been recreated next to the new Synagogue.”5 A consensus was
found when members of the Jewish community unanimously agreed that – wherever the
new Jewish space would be – it would have to erase any traces of differences between Jews
(regardless of their socio-economic class) and the rest of the population.6
Writing on the meaning that the construction of the new synagogue had for
Florentine Jews, prominent Italian Jewish scholar Dante Lattes stated four decades after the
completion of the building that:
Once they became free, Jews began denying any substantial
difference between themselves and others. They made a
single distinction, and it was a small one. They said: “We go
to Temple and they go to Church.” And that was all. And
then we began to devote all the striving of our conscience, of
our love, of our religion, and of our generosity to the
construction of beautiful temples far from the ghettos and to
make monuments of them worthy of admiration by others –
worthy of citation in the Baedeker among artistic marvels that
foreigners flock to between breakfast and a jaunt in the
country.7
While the Grand Duke’s government did not wish for a complete tearing apart of
differences between the Jewish and the Catholic population – as shown by the much
criticized decision to rename the streets of the old ghetto collectively as “Via del Ghetto”8 –
it did give authorization for the construction of the Great Synagogue anywhere in the city. In
1872 the plans for the construction in the Mattonaia neighborhood, one of the new
Lerner (2000), 6.
Gallico, Raffaello (1861). Sulla Convenienza e sui Vantaggi che si Otterrebbero Edificando il Nuovo Tempio Israelitico di Firenze nel Centro della Città.
Lettera di Raffaello Gallico ai suoi Correligionari Offerenti. Firenze: Tipografia Garibaldi: 15–16. My translation.
6 Boralevi, Alberto. “La Costruzione della Sinagoga di Firenze,” in Cassuto, David (Ed., 1985). Il Centenario del Tempio Israelitico di Firenze:
Atti del Convegno, 7 Heshvan 5743, 24 Ottobre 1982. Firenze: Giuntina. 52–60. My translation.
7 Lattes, Dante (1911). “’Ed il libro?’ Discorso Tenuto all’Accademia di Studi Ebraici a Trieste,” Il Corriere Israelitico 50, no. 8 as quoted in
Lerner (2000), 17.
8 Servi, Flaminio, Cav, Rabbino Capo di Casale Monferrato (1881). Il Vessillo Israelitico – Rivista Mensile per la Storia, la Scienza, e lo Spirito del
Giudaismo. “Notizie Diverse,” Casale: Tipografia Gio. Pane: 60-61.
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residential areas created for the growing middle classes, were finally approved; however, the
construction did not start until 1874. The initial designs were by architects Marco Treves,
Mariano Falcini and Vincenzo Micheli (only Treves was Jewish)9 and the construction was
completed in 1882. The costs of the expensive building were fulfilled by a fund left by David
Levi, a rich Florentine Jew who wanted his hometown to have a synagogue that would be
“worthy of the city.”10
While the community did encounter some restrictions regarding the plans of the
building, it had total liberty of style with respect to the internal and external embellishments.
A brief description of what the Great Synagogue comprised (and still comprises) well
illustrates the fact that Jewish experience in Florence was radically transformed with the
creation of Temple itself.
The actual building is placed in a garden filled with oriental plants and access is
available through an iron gate designed by the Sienese artist Pasquale Franci.11 The exterior is
covered with expensive travertine from Colle Val d’Elsa. The central dome and the two
smaller cupolas are sheathed in copper and the reasons for the distinctive green color that is
now a main component of the Florence skyline is that the copper has oxidized with time (see
pictures on website). The elaborate interior was designed by Giovanni Panti, whose passion
for arabesques is reflected in the red and blue window decorations. Although only few
Florentines identify with the Orthodox movement, the fact that there is no official
Conservative or Reform movement makes the Florence synagogue architecture very
traditional. As such, the women’s gallery is enclosed by a decorated fence designed by
Francesco Morini. However, since the end of World War II, women have been allowed to
Krinsky, Carol Herselle (Ed., 1985). Synagogues of Europe: Architecture, History, Meaning. Mineola, N.Y.: Dover Publications, Inc. 348.
Lombardi, Matthew (Ed., 2010). Fodor's Florence, Tuscany & Umbria, 10th Edition, New York: Fodor's Travel Publications, Inc.: 78.
11 N. A. “Synagogue & Museum of Hebraic Art and Culture – Sinagoga e Museo di Arte e Cultura Ebraica,” Web. Available at:
www.museumsinflorence.com/musei/Synagogue_of_Florence.html. Accessed 27 November 2015.
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join the men on the first floor.12 The ark is framed by four black marbles columns and is
covered with arabesques designed by Giacomo Dal Medico, while the gilded door is by
Ferdinando Romanelli.13 The costly appointment of non-Jewish Italian artists to decorate the
interior of the Great Synagogue is not a coincidence. Indeed, the fact that they were both
Catholic and Italian shows the willingness – and achievement – of Florentine Jews in
wanting a religious space that was different from the rest of the monuments characterizing
Florence’s landscape, but whose differentiation was a product of Italian artists (so that the
Jews would not be seen as foreigners) who could create something harmonious with the rest
of the city’s monuments. As Italian Jewish observer Augusto Bachi stated,
While in past centuries the Jews of Florence were not
tolerated in the city where they lived and had to consider
themselves as foreigners, they built synagogues whose
interiors and exteriors were in the Florentine style, now the
“Israelites” of Florence were inaugurating in Florence a
Moorish construction, a foreign style never seen in Tuscany
before – and, through that act, were celebrating their status as
free Italian citizens.14
Bachi argues that Florentine Jews were sending an unequivocal message: their
differences were reconcilable with the rest of society. While the Jews’ attempt to break with
their past in the ghetto was not absolute – as demonstrated by the black and yellow Magen
David marble taken from the Mattir Assurim society of the 17th century15 – their emancipation
was made official with the visits by King Umberto I in 1887 and by King Vittorio Emanuele
III in 1911, which are to this day commemorated by a plaque inside the synagogue.16
In conclusion, this short paper hopes to have shown how Florentine Jewry was
transformed and emancipated as a result of the building of the Great Synagogue. Indeed,
Tigay, Alan M. (Ed., 1994).The Jewish Traveler: Hadassah Magazine's Guide to the World's Jewish Communities and Sights. Northvale, NJ: Jason
Aronson. 178.
13 Liscia and Tedeschi (Ed., 1995), 53-62.
14 Bachi, Augusto (1933). “Appunti sulla Architettura della Sinagoga,” La Rassegna Mensile di Israel 8, No. 1-2: 37. My translation.
15 N. A. “Synagogue & Museum of Hebraic Art and Culture – Sinagoga e Museo di Arte e Cultura Ebraica,” Web. Available at:
www.museumsinflorence.com/musei/Synagogue_of_Florence.html. Accessed 27 November 2015.
16 Liscia and Tedeschi (Ed., 1995), 53-62.
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while the Jewishness of Florence began to be reshaped with the demolition of the ghetto, it
is the replacement of the old religious space that allowed the Jews to redefine themselves.
While in the ghetto the synagogue(s) served both as a religious and a social location, the new
Great Synagogue ceased to act as a communal space. The only other major purpose that the
construction of the new building served was that it triggered a new Jewish identity to
accompany the new Jewish life: that of the fully-integrated Italian Jew.
Works Cited
Bachi, Augusto (1933). “Appunti sulla Architettura della Sinagoga,” La Rassegna Mensile di
Israel 8, No. 1, 2: 1-45.
Boralevi, Alberto. “La Costruzione della Sinagoga di Firenze,” in Cassuto, David (Ed., 1985).
Il Centenario del Tempio Israelitico di Firenze: Atti del Convegno, 7 Heshvan 5743, 24 Ottobre
1982. Firenze: Giuntina.
Gallico, Raffaello (1861). Sulla Convenienza e sui Vantaggi che si Otterrebbero Edificando il Nuovo
Tempio Israelitico di Firenze nel Centro della Città. Lettera di Raffaello Gallico ai suoi
Correligionari Offerenti. Firenze: Tipografia Garibaldi.
Krinsky, Carol Herselle (Ed., 1985). Synagogues of Europe: Architecture, History, Meaning.
Mineola, N.Y.: Dover Publications, Inc.
Lerner, Scott L. (2000). “The Narrating Architecture of Emancipation,” Jewish Social Studies,
Vol. 6, No. 3: 1-30.
Liscia Bemporad, Dora and Tedeschi Falco, Annamarcella (Ed., 1995). Tuscany Jewish
Itineraries: Place, History and Art. Marsilio Pub. Regione Toscana.
5
Journo
Jews and the City
Final Project, Paper #4
Lombardi, Matthew (Ed., 2010). Fodor’s Florence, Tuscany & Umbria, 10th Edition, New York:
Fodor's Travel Publications, Inc.
N. A. “Sinagoga e Museo Ebraico di Firenze: one of the most beautiful Italian Synagogues,
in
the
Heart
of
Florence,”
Web.
Available
at:
www.coopculture.it/heritage.cfm?id=37. Accessed 27 November 2015.
Rabinowitz, Louis Isaac, and Davidovitch, David and Zvieli, Benjamin and Goldman, Karla
and Posner, Raphael and Avi-Yonah, Michael. “Synagogue,” in Berenbaum, Michael
and Skolnik, Fred (Ed., 2007). Encyclopedia Judaica, Vol. 19. 2nd edition. Detroit:
Macmillan Reference: 352-383.
Servi, Flaminio, Cav, Rabbino Capo di Casale Monferrato (1881). Il Vessillo Israelitico – Rivista
Mensile per la Storia, la Scienza, e lo Spirito del Giudaismo. “Notizie Diverse,” Casale:
Tipografia Gio. Pane.
Tigay, Alan M. (Ed., 1994).The Jewish Traveler: Hadassah Magazine’s Guide to the World’s Jewish
Communities and Sights. Northvale, N.J.: Jason Aronson.
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