Seventeenth-century matzevot from Chęciny: Historical and cultural aspects Cover Image

XVII-wieczne macewy z Chęcin – aspekty historyczne i kulturowe
Seventeenth-century matzevot from Chęciny: Historical and cultural aspects

Author(s): Andrzej Trzciński
Subject(s): History, Jewish studies, Modern Age, 17th Century
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego
Keywords: Chęciny; Jewish cemeteries; Jewish tombstones; Hebrew epigraphics

Summary/Abstract: The article focuses on the seventeenth-century Jewish tombstones made of a decorative limestone (the so-called Chęciny marble) in stonecutters’ workshops operating from the early seventeenth century in Chęciny. It discusses matzevot produced in this town both for clients from other localities (including Lublin and Kraków) and for local population (matzevot preserved at the local Jewish cemetery). It analyzes their artistic and technical values as well as the situation of producers and clients in a broader historical context (such as wars and epidemics in the mid-century). It also explores the tombstones preserved in Chęciny itself as historical sources for the study of the local Jewish community and the cemetery as such. The last part of the article includes a catalogue of eleven best preserved matzevot from the Jewish cemetery at Chęciny.

  • Issue Year: 23/2020
  • Issue No: 45
  • Page Range: 1-42
  • Page Count: 42
  • Language: Polish