Above: (1 min 30 sec) Timelapse of Krista Lima, Handshouse studio Gwoździec Re!construction project leader, during the process of painting the Leopard in the South Dome of the ceiling in Szczebrzeszyn, Poland, 2012.

Project Overview:

Through the MAKING/HISTORY Wooden Synagogue Project, Handshouse produced an extensive collection of historical material research that is vital to the continued work of recovering lost heritage. We have also established a powerful educational model for learning-by-doing through workshops that collaboratively remake lost historic objects, reawakening whole worlds of both tangible and intangible cultural heritage. The calls for access to our research and continued interest in our unique hands-on educational approach are leading us to explore new ways to expand our capacity to share our process and resources.

Through the support of Mass Humanities grant funding, and collaboration with the POLIN Museum, we are starting the next chapter of the MAKING/HISTORY: Wooden Synagogue Project, creating A Portal to Gwoździec: a window illuminating the history of wooden synagogues for a wider public.

The Leopard

The abundant array of animal figures that inhabit the painted cupola of the Gwoździec Synagogue is one of the most striking features of Gwoździec. There are 70 individual animals painted on the major panels of the synagogue’s ceiling. To modern eyes, the inclusion of some of the animals may appear random and even puzzling—did what looks like North American turkeys really roam the woods and farmland of the Polish countryside?

Until recently, the prevailing idea among scholars was that the animals were merely decorative, perhaps even random images reflecting the region’s folk culture. Thomas Hubka, a leading authority on the Gwoździec Synagogue, dismisses this idea, noting that animal scenes account for nearly half of the ceiling’s surface and are central to the overall composition.

This unusual leopard-like creature, with its human-like facial features, appears in a large medallion on the south side of the ceiling.

Above: Still (Archival). Gwoździec Synagogue, detail from ceiling painting, South Dome, Collection and Copyright of Tel Aviv Museum of Art.

Above: Still. A tracing of the Leopard.

Above: Still (in process). Painting the Leopard at the 2012 workshop at The Synagogue in Szczebrzeszyn, Poland.

Above: Still. Handshouse Studio’s finished painting of the Leopard.

Above: South dome of the reconstructed Gwoździec ceiling. Courtesy of Handshouse Studio.

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