“Consecrated to the Lord Silver Ornaments from the Jewish Museum of Rome”

The highly esteemed volume “Consecrated to the Lord Silver Ornaments from the Jewish Museum of Rome” by Dora Liscia Bemporad and Davide Spagnoletto has been published by Sillabe, available in both Italian and English editions.
Set in the Rome of the Popes, the heritage of furnishings – developed over three centuries – from the synagogues of the Ghetto, most of which are now kept in the Jewish Museum.
Some wealthy families offered for the glory of the Lord the objects of worship commissioned from the most important and innovative Roman silversmiths, even though the Jews were heavily taxed and the majority of the population suffered from poverty.
The new discoveries, achieved through the analysis of archive documents, inscriptions, hallmarks, and with the help of a rich photographic archive, make this volume a valuable contribution to the knowledge and appreciation of what a community, albeit a limited one, can offer.
In presenting the work, Riccardo Di Segni, Chief Rabbi of the Rome Community, observes“each community hasdeveloped its own artistic tradition in making these ornaments. Italian Jews have aparticular sensibility for art and beauty, which has produced a series of exceptional objects that stand out for their style in any collection of international liturgical art”.
“What makes the Jewish Museum of Rome’s collection of silver ritual objects outstanding at the international level – writes Alessandra Di Castro, President of the Foundation for the Jewish Museum of Rome – is not only its exceptional quality but also its incredible size. The corpus totals around 400 pieces, the majority of which are attributable to Roman masters. Miraculously, the collection was spared the lootings and requisitions suffered by Rome and the Jews through the centuries. It also escaped the melting down and reuse to which silver ornaments were subjectthrough history, due to the intrinsic value of the metal and the possibility of recycling it”.
The volume is the fruit of the lengthy and painstaking work carriedout by the authors. The book is a product of the specific cultural policy adopted by the Jewish Museum of Rome which in recent years has chosen to combine the theme of promotion with the still more fundamental theme of custodianship and conservation. Considerable attention was given to the importance of these ornaments by the pioneering director of the Jewish Museum of Rome Daniela Di Castro z.l., who placed them in the wider historical context of Roman and Italian decorative arts. “This volume – adds Alessandra Di Castro – is also the fruit of a project that she wished to realize but was prevented by a lack of funds, at a time when this institution did not have an international reach and therefore could not attract financing. Today it has this capacity, thanks to the visibility achieved through an extensive series offar-reaching initiatives and projects”.
The authors, in illustrating their research and method, observe how no other Italian synagogue possesses a heritage equal to the one conserved inRome, which constitutes a corpus with clearly identifiable stylistic and formal aspects. For the benefit of scholars who will surely make extensive use of it, a mention is made of the tools used: besides the early inventories ranging from 1681 to 1880, an inventory was made in 1904 of the assets possessed by the Cinque Scole, prior to their imminent transfer to the Great Synagogue, inaugurated in July of that year. A second inventory of 1941, when the vicissitudes of war and the Nazi occupation of Rome posed a threat to the Jewish heritage, also listed the furnishings donated in the decades in between. The concise entries offer scientifically correct data without extensive critical comment. The repertoire of hallmarks and the index of coats of arms are also invaluable.
More than a book, it is a marvelous, meticulous, and timeless fresco of Jewish art and spirituality.

The book can be purchased on the museum’s website at the following link

*Set donated by the Alatri family to the Scola Nuova (Torah Finials 1728-1729; Crown 1724-1725), The Jewish Museum of Rome, ph. Giorgio Benni*

Cover photo:“Consecrated to the Lord Silver Ornaments from the Jewish Museum of Rome”- Inauguration of Rabbi Riccardo Di Segni in the presence of Rabbi Elio Toaff, 2002, Archivio Storico della Comunità Ebraica di Roma “Giancarlo Spizzichino”, Archivio Fotografico