Samuel D. Gruber has posted a fascinating item on his blog recounting the story of a rare East-European-style synagogue mural from 1910, which has been discovered in Burlington Vermont — and on which restoration work is set to begin. Photos can be seen here.
After almost three years of discussion and organization, plans are getting underway for the recovery and restoration of a rare surviving synagogue mural painted in 1910 by a Lithuanian Jewish immigrant artist Ben Zion Black for the East European Orthodox Chai Adam congregation in Burlington, Vermont. The mural […] depicts the Decalogue (Ten Commandments) flanked by rampant lions and surmounted by a floating crown, all bathed with the rays of the sun, and framed by architectural elements and elaborate curtains. […]
The presence of the mural has been known to a few specialists (such as artist and Jewish folk art researcher Murray Zimiles), but the painting was never published. The Chai Adam Synagogue operated from 1889-1939 when it merged with Ohavi Zedek Synagogue, and the mural was entirely lost to view in 1986, when it was covered when the building was converted into an apartment building. Originally, there were other associated symbols further down the wall on both sides of the Ark, including musical instruments illustrating the 150th Psalm. These are visible in an old photograph, but were not visible in 1986, when photos were taken before the conversion to apartments.