Interior view of the synagogue in Dukes Place, Houndsditch, with a service in progress. The men are downstairs, the women upstairs in the galleries. Published in R. Ackermann's 'The Microcosm of London' Vol. III Opposite page 168. The artist has given the congregation rather stereotypical features, reflecting the anti-Jewish prejudice of the time. This synagogue was the principal place of worship for Ashkenazi Jews who settled in London. It was built in 1692, funded mainly by Benjamin Levy, son of a wealthy Hamburg merchant. Prior to this, most Jews had worshipped in the first London synagogue in nearby Creechurch Lane, founded by Sephardic Jews.
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Artist/Photographer/Maker
Thomas Rowlandson; Augustus Charles Pugin; Rudolph Ackermann
