The Festival of Purim (La fête de Purim); Interior of the Portuguese Synagogue in Amsterdam
One of the symbols of the wealthy Portuguese Jewish community in Amsterdam during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries was the magnificent Portuguese Synagogue, a building that still stands today and looks much the way it does in this print. Here Dubourg illustrated the community gathered there for Purim, a Jewish holiday celebrated to commemorate the deliverance of the Jews from the massacre plotted by Haman. In the foreground, people of varying classes talk with each other while in the background many men have draped prayer shawls over their fashionable caps as they partiicpate in the service.
Artwork Details
- Title: The Festival of Purim (La fête de Purim); Interior of the Portuguese Synagogue in Amsterdam
- Artist: Balthasar Bernaerts (Dutch, active 1710–37)
- Artist: After Louis Fabritius Dubourg (Dutch, Amsterdam 1693–1775 Amsterdam)
- Date: 1737
- Medium: Etching and engraving
- Dimensions: Sheet: 17 5/16 × 20 11/16 in. (44 × 52.5 cm)
Plate: 13 9/16 × 16 5/8 in. (34.5 × 42.2 cm) - Classification: Prints
- Credit Line: Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Arthur H. Elkind, in celebration of the Museum’s 150th Anniversary, 2020
- Object Number: 2020.272
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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