H. A. Meek gradually unfolds the story of the synagogue from its origins in Solomon's Temple to its exuberant Baroque phase in Venice and thence to the classic simplicity of the modern building. Over the course of several millennia, the style of the synagogues has grown and developed, drawing in a vast array of cultural and artistic influences to produce a rich and coherent heritage. A heritage that is always aware of its biblical antecedents and still strongly based on God's commandments to Moses to construct a Tabernacle in the desert. Magnificently illustrated, with much specially commissioned photography from around the world, this book provides a detailed and comprehensive picture of the synagogue and its decoration. Numerous metropolitan and provincial synagogues, from the flamboyantly Moorish to the sparsely contemporary, are represented as a monument to the art and architecture of Judaism. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

More than a gloriously illustrated celebration of the Jewish synagogue, this stirring album charts Jewish history, culture and worship through the prism of Jews' houses of worship. Beginning with Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem, completed in 950 BCE, British architectural historian Meek surveys early synagogues of the Greco-Roman world, ornate Islamic-style temples built under Moslem rule in Spain, Renaissance and Baroque prayer-houses of Venice and Padua. We visit the Great Portuguese Synagogue in Amsterdam (1671-75), spiritual center of western Sephardim, the extraordinary wooden temples of Poland, built as early as 1642 (all torched by the Germans in WWII), Marc Chagall's stained-glass windows depicting the Twelve Tribes of Israel in a Jerusalem synagogue and modernist temples in the U.S. designed by Walter Gropius, Philip Johnson and Frank Lloyd Wright. More than 200 prints, architectural drawings, paintings and photographs, most in color, complement an informal text to evoke the synagogue as a reservoir of spiritual strength and renewal. Copyright 1995 Cahners Business Information, Inc. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information