Najstarsze przedstawienie bimy w Polsce (Ołtarz Mariacki w Krakowie)

The oldest bimah in Poland was an element of the Old Synagogue in the quarter of Cracow called Kazimierz and dated back to the second half of the 16th century. As the original was destroyed by the Germans, the bimah that is there there now is an exact reconstruetion. lt is based on a figure of twelve sides and has the form of an open-work grille forming a kind of high cage; a few steps lead to the platform from the south and the west.  ln Polish synagogues there were rectangular and polygonal bimahs, surrounded by balustrades. ln wooden synagogues of the 18th century they often took the form of„shrines” covered with tapering or domed roofs.  Already in the first of the 17th century, due to night worship that had been introduced earlier by Luri, a very original form of brick synagogues was developed. ln those so-called synagogues the four centrally placed columns or pillars formed a bimah, often with a lantern located at the top. This kind of construction had been later copied in beautiful and very unusual wooden synagogues which, regrettably, were burned by the Germans during the Second World War.  The present paper deals with the bimah presented by Wit Stwosz (Veit Stoss) in one of the bas-reliefs of his altar in St Mary Cathedral.  lt seems that in this altar Stwosz managed to express everything he intended. He conveyed deep religious content by using very strong means of expression: sculptures, colours of enamel work, pathos, tranquillity, Visions, and realism, the last often accentuated. ln it he included everything his genius was capable of in order to produce a work „that was worthy of God and that exerted influence on hearts and senses of men”. Among many of late Gothic altars preserved in Europe, the altar in St Mary Catedral in Cracow is seen as the most perfect as no other altar can equal it in any respect.  Although so far no attempts have been made to investigate the Jewish themes of St Mary altar, they are obviously there and have to be perceived and understood. In order to do that one needs to know both the Jewish and Catholic religion as well as religious and cultural customs. lt is not possible to analyse medieval art. Without being aequainted with ieonography and, in some of the images, doctrinal symbolism. This form of symbolism originates in early Medieval Ages and has its sources in the Holy Land. (Arabs and crusades).