Jewish Museum Of Florence
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The Jewish Museum of Florence () is a museum of Jewish history located in the
Great Synagogue of Florence The Great Synagogue of Florence or Tempio Maggiore is one of the largest synagogues in South-central Europe, situated in Florence, in Italy. The synagogue of Florence was one of the most important synagogues built in Europe in the age of the Je ...
, Italy. The museum, which covers two spaces of the building, gathers an important collection of ancient objects of Jewish ceremonial art, evidence of the high artistic level achieved by the Jewish-Italian communities in the field of
applied arts The applied arts are all the arts that apply design and decoration to everyday and essentially practical objects in order to make them aesthetically pleasing."Applied art" in ''The Oxford Dictionary of Art''. Online edition. Oxford Univers ...
. Exhibitions illustrate the history of Florentine Jews from the first settlements to the
post-war In Western usage, the phrase post-war era (or postwar era) usually refers to the time since the end of World War II. More broadly, a post-war period (or postwar period) is the interval immediately following the end of a war. A post-war period c ...
reconstruction, featuring old photographs, films and a large number of objects of daily and commemorative use.


Descripción

The Jewish Museum occupies two spaces in two separate floors of the Great Synagogue. The first opened on the first floor in 1981 (thus considered the year the museum opened) as a community initiative called "Friends of the Jewish Museum of Florence", with exhibits offering a historical overview of the Jewish community of Florence and its relations with the city. A photo collection documents the main sites of Jewish congregation in Florence with replicas of the Buonsignori Map and of the ancient ghetto, among others. It also includes a collection of old furniture and ritual objects which were used during religious services, as well as pieces of textiles and
jewellery Jewellery ( UK) or jewelry (U.S.) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the clothes. From a wester ...
dating from the 16th century to the early 18th century. The second floor opened after the museum's expansion in 2007, and contains objects and furniture related to the most significant events in Jewish life, family rituals, and religious festivities. There is also a space dedicated to the memory of the
Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...
, with images projected on the back wall. All spaces lead to a computer area, where visitors can connect with other museums and Jewish centres around the world for research purposes. Museum guides accompany visitors through the complex, providing them with information, insights and anecdotes about local Jewish culture and heritage. Exiting the museum, visitors can access the museum store or rest in the garden area.


Events


Open House

Every September, the Great Synagogue, and therefore the Jewish Museum, celebrates the Open House Day, open to the public as part of the European Day of Jewish Culture. In 2010, the Open House attracted more than 60.000 visitors, showcasing masterpieces of Jewish artists, and allowing access to parts of the building normally closed to the public.


See also

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Great Synagogue of Florence The Great Synagogue of Florence or Tempio Maggiore is one of the largest synagogues in South-central Europe, situated in Florence, in Italy. The synagogue of Florence was one of the most important synagogues built in Europe in the age of the Je ...
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Jewish Museum of Rome The Jewish Museum of Rome ( it, Museo Ebraico di Roma) is situated in the basement of the Great Synagogue of Rome and offers both information on the Jewish presence in Rome since the second century BCE and a large collection of works of art produ ...
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Museum of Italian Judaism and the Shoah The Museum of Italian Judaism and the Shoah (MEIS) ( it, Museo Nazionale dell’Ebraismo Italiano e della Shoah) is a public history museum in Ferrara, Italy. It opened in 2017, and traces the history of the Jewish people in Italy starting from th ...


References

{{coord missing, Italy Museums in Florence Jewish museums in Italy Museums established in 1981 Jews and Judaism in Florence