Paru le 18/09/2003 | Broché sous jaquette 240 pages
Tout public
Educated at Manchester Grammar School, H A Meek read Architecture at Manchester University. After serving for 12 years as Ancient Monuments Architect to the Government in Northern Ireland, Dr Meek lectured on the History of Architecture at Queen's University, Belfast. The author of the standard work on Guarino Guarini, he has worked as an editor on the Macmillan Dictionary of Art and has a reading knowledge of about 20 languages. He lives in the north of England with his wife and a large library. Though not overly pious, he likes to fill in his Saturday mornings with a visit to the local school.
The specially commissioned photographs are by Matthew Weinreb, a prize-winning photographer based in London, whose books include London: Portrait of a City, and Paris: Portrait of a City, both published by Phaidon.
Throughout the long and often tortuous history of the Jews, the synagogue has been a constant presence and a source of spiritual strength. Playing a symbolic as well as a practical role, it has acted as a focus for the faith of countless Jewish communities all over the world. The significance placed on the synagogue, with its rituals and traditions, emphasizes the fact that Judaism is not simply a religion but a way of life.
In a lively and compelling narrative, 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. A book to be savoured and treasured. The Synagogue will inspire and fascinate both Jews and Gentiles alike.
`A delicious book. Meek has an car for the engaging anecdote and an eye for the glorious edifice or architectural detail.' (Newsday)
`This well-designed work will serve as a splendid gift book, suitable for the bar or bar mitzvah. The colour photography is indeed beautiful.' (Jewish Book World)
