Museo Ebraico di Casale Monferrato

The Museum of Ancient Jewish Art and History, also known as the Museo degli Argenti (Silver Museum), houses one of the most important collections of Jewish art objects in Europe. The first nucleus was conceived in 1969 by architect Giulio Bourbon to complete the restoration work on the Casale Monferrato Synagogue, and is now part of the Jewish museum complex in Casale, as are the Museo dei Lumi (Museum of Enlightenment) and the Old Synagogue. The Museum is located inside the women's galleries of the synagogue and on the first floor of the two adjoining community buildings.
The tour, which must be guided, is didactic and illustrative in nature in order to provide visitors with a rapid understanding of Judaism and its expression in Casale Monferrato. It houses particularly valuable artefacts such as the Tables of the Law, in gilded wood and dating back to the 18th century, numerous rimonim (terminals for the Scrolls of the Law) and atarot (crowns for the Scrolls of the Law) embossed, chiselled or in silver filigree.
The visit begins with the Synagogue, inaugurated in 1595, a splendid example of Piedmontese baroque, one of the oldest in Italy, rich in decorative stuccoes and inscriptions in Hebrew quoting Psalms or historical events; it continues in the Museo degli Argenti, which displays objects and documents illustrating Jewish life with its traditions and the various religious or historical festivals that follow one another throughout the year and are still observed today as in past centuries; ending in the Museum of the Lights which displays a significant part of the 251 archived lamps, the result of donations from artists and designers who have interpreted the symbolism of the lamps dedicated to the Chanukkah feast.
During the tour, works by Levy, Mondino, Recalcat, Arman, Topor, Pomodoro and other important Italian and international artists, both Jewish and non-Jewish, will be seen in the passages between the spaces of the buildings.