Interior of a Synagogue

Towering columns and dramatic shafts of light define the interior of a synagogue, rendered with the theatrical intensity that earned Magnasco the nickname “il Lissandrino.” Active in Genoa and Milan during the late Baroque period, Magnasco specialized in small-scale figures set within vast, dramatically lit interiors — monasteries, prisons, churches, and, unusually, synagogues. His depiction of Jewish worship, rare in Italian painting of this era, suggests either direct observation or contact with the Jewish communities of northern Italy.