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For Earth Day 2021: a JHE photo essay — Nature in synagogue and Jewish cemetery decorative art

A stag and deer in a woodland scene, painted on the ceiling of the “new” synagogue in Piatra Neamt, Romania

Earth Day has been celebrated this week. Taking place annually on April 22, it was founded in 1970 to demonstrate support for environmental protection — and now sees events all around the world. 

In honor of Earth Day, we present a photo essay on aspects of nature — flora, fauna, landscapes, etc — that can be seen in the decorative art in synagogues and Jewish cemeteries.

 

Animals including a rhinoceros on the ceiling of the synagogue in Botosani, Romania
Trees in a stained glass window, New Synagogue, Szeged, Hungary
A cluster of grapes on the fragment of a gravestone in Lublin, Poland
Fruit and birds in the (repainted) wall paintings in the Tsori Gilad synagogue in L’viv, Ukraine.
A bird takes a sprig from flowers, Coming st. cemetery, Charleston, South Carolina
Flowers on the Ark of the synagogue in Cherasco, Italy
A lion, flowers, and imaginary griffins on a gravestone in the “Middle” Jewish cemetery, Siret, Romania
A crayfish in a country landscape on the painted ceiling of the restored synagogue in Dąbrowska Tarnowska, Poland
Stained glass windows in the sanctuary, Garnethill synagogue Glasgow, with design of pomegranate trees
A forest scene with lions and birds; the New Jewish cemetery Krakow
Nature scenes in a zodiac on the ceiling of the Beit Tfilah Benyamin in Chernivtsi, Ukraine
Detail of tomb of Ber Sonnenberg, 1822. Okopowa Jewish cemetery, Warsaw, showing a river and forest
 Fish, birds and flowers in the reproduced painted ceiling of the Chodorow synagogue
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6 comments on “For Earth Day 2021: a JHE photo essay — Nature in synagogue and Jewish cemetery decorative art”

  2. I would have found these usefull last year when my family and i designed a monument for my husband, he and i visited poland czech republic and other central europe countries after the fall of communism for the world monuments fund to assess with scholars and activists the remains of jewish cemeteries and synagogues and prospects for conservation. My daughter an arts professor drew on the many cemetery brochures i had collected for the final design. .

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