Jews Praying in the Synagogue on Yom Kippur
Maurycy Gottlieb
1878
Credits
Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 6.
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While not front and center, Jewish women are shown here sitting together in the synagogue balcony, or women’s section. Despite the pronounced gender division, the women’s gallery appears full of life. Women seem to be conducting their own business as they confer with one another. Note what appears to be a woman holding a charity box, which could have been used for collecting charity specifically for poor women. Even in this traditional depiction, we can see the artist acknowledging women as more active community participants than we might think based on the strict segregation of roles in the synagogue.
What do you imagine the two women engaged in private conversation in the back row might be discussing?
How would you interpret the artist’s depictions of the men as opposed to the women in this image?
Do you see any clues that Gottlieb painted this image as gender roles slowly began to shift in the nineteenth century?