The Animals

The abundant array of animal figures that inhabit the painted cupola of the Gwoździec Synagogue is one of its most striking features of Gwoździec. There are 70 individual animals painted in the major panels of the synagogue’s ceiling. To modern eyes, the inclusion of some of the animals may appear random and even puzzling—did what looks like North American turkeys really roam the woods and farmland of the Polish countryside?

Interview with the Makers

NORTH DOME

Liger

In Jewish Art, the lion was usually represented in a static pose. Pairs of Lions turned to face one another, protected the Ark.

NORTH DOME

The detailed figure of what looks like a North American turkey prominently displayed in a large central medallion at the base of the cupola is an intriguing image

Turkey, North Dome

Images of two identical backward-gazing deer, featured in circular medallions on the north and south faces of the cupola, may have been inspired by the Zohar, the most important text of Kabbalah, which is central to Jewish mystical thought.

Backward-gazing deer, North Dome

SOUTH DOME

The unusual leopard-like creature, with its human-like facial features, appears in a large medallion on the north side of the ceiling.

Leopard

Turkey, South Dome

Backward-gazing deer, South Dome

Image credits:

North Dome, Liger: Top Left: Detail from ceiling painting of the North Dome of Gwoździec Synagogue, Photograph by A Breier, Collection and Copyright of Tel Aviv Museum of Art. Top Right: Drawing of the Liger by Handshouse Studio MAKING/HISTORY Wooden Synagogue Project participants based on the archival photographs. Bottom left: Krista Lima, Handshouse Studio leader, painting the Liger on the North Dome for the Gwozdziec Re!construction project at The White Synagogue in Wroclaw, Poland, 2011. Bottom Right: Finished Liger painted by Handshouse Studio workshop participants for the Gwozdziec Re!construction project.

South Dome, Leopard: Top Right: Detail from ceiling painting of South Dome of Gwoździec Synagogue, Photograph by A Breier, Collection and Copyright of Tel Aviv Museum of Art. Top Left: Drawing of the Leopard by Handshouse Studio MAKING/HISTORY Wooden Synagogue Project participants based on the archival photographs. Bottom Right: Krista Lima, Handshouse Studio leader, painting the Leopard painting of Gwoździec Synagogue for the Gwozdziec Re!construction project at the Synagogue in Szczebrzeszyn, Poland in 2012. Bottom Left: Finished Leopard painted by Handshouse Studio workshop participants for the Gwozdziec Re!construction project.

North Dome, Turkey : Top Left: Detail from ceiling painting of North Dome of Gwoździec Synagogue, Photograph by A Breier, Collection and Copyright of Tel Aviv Museum of Art. Top Right: Drawing of the Turkey by Handshouse Studio MAKING/HISTORY Wooden Synagogue Project participants based on the archival photographs. Bottom Left: Nick Winter, Handshouse Studio leader, painting the Turkey on the North Dome painting of Gwoździec Synagogue for the Gwozdziec Re!construction project at The White Synagogue in Wroclaw, Poland, 2011. Bottom Right: Finished Turkey painted by Handshouse Studio workshop participants for the Gwozdziec Re!construction project.

South Dome,Turkey: Top Right: Detail from ceiling painting of South Dome of Gwoździec Synagogue, Photograph by A Breier, Collection and Copyright of Tel Aviv Museum of Art. Top Left: Drawing of the Turkey by Handshouse Studio MAKING/HISTORY Wooden Synagogue Project participants based on the archival photographs. Bottom Right: Nick Winter, Handshouse Studio painting leader, and Thomas Hubka, Author of Resplendent Synagogue, Architecture and Worship in an Eighteenth-Century Polish Community, painting the Turkey on the South Dome painting of Gwoździec Synagogue for the Gwozdziec Re!construction project at the Synagogue in Szczebrzeszyn, Poland in 2012. Bottom Left: Finished Turkey painted by Handshouse Studio workshop participants for the Gwozdziec Re!construction project.

North Dome, Backward-gazing Deer: Top Left: Detail from ceiling painting of North Dome of Gwoździec Synagogue, Photograph by A Breier, Collection and Copyright of Tel Aviv Museum of Art. Top Right: Drawing of the Deer by Handshouse Studio MAKING/HISTORY Wooden Synagogue Project participants based on the archival photographs. Bottom Left: Jason Loik, Handshouse Studio painting leader, painting the Deer for the Gwozdziec Re!construction project at The White Synagogue in Wroclaw, Poland, 2011. Bottom Right: Finished Deer painted by Handshouse Studio workshop participants for the Gwozdziec Re!construction project.

South Dome,Backward-facing Deer: Top Right: Detail from ceiling painting of South Dome of Gwoździec Synagogue, Photograph by A Breier, Collection and Copyright of Tel Aviv Museum of Art. Top Left: Drawing of the Deer by Handshouse Studio MAKING/HISTORY Wooden Synagogue Project participants based on the archival photographs. Bottom Right: Jason Loik, Handshouse Studio painting leader, painting the Deer of Gwoździec Synagogue for the Gwozdziec Re!construction project at the workshop at the Synagogue in Szczebrzeszyn, Poland in 2012. Bottom Left: Finished Deer painted by Handshouse Studio workshop participants for the Gwozdziec Re!construction project.

Video of Krista Lima, Jason Loik and Tom Hubka discussing and painting the Leopard at the painting workshop at the Synagogue in Szczebrzeszyn, Poland in 2012. Courtesy of Trillium Studios

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