A congregation fills the vast interior of a synagogue, seated on benches and stools arranged in loose, irregular rows across the shadowed nave. Figures cluster in animated groups, some hunched in conversation, others reading or gesturing, their faces and hands picked out in sharp light against the gloom of the vaulted space. The architecture is grand and severe, with soaring columns, pointed arches, and tall windows that admit a cool, diffused light, illuminating patches of the stone floor and the figures' garments.

The brushwork is energetic and loose, with quick, expressive strokes defining the folds of fabric and the play of light on stone, while the faces are rendered with flickering touches that suggest movement and fleeting expression. A palette dominated by browns, grays, and deep blues is punctuated by flashes of white and pink, heightening the drama of the scene and guiding the gaze across the crowded interior. The composition draws the viewer into the space, leading from the benches in the foreground to the raised bimah at the heart of the gathering, framed by the rhythmic repetition of columns and arches. The Synagogue is the work of Alessandro Magnasco, created in the 18th century and dated by the Art Institute of Chicago to around 1730.

The painting entered the Art Institute’s collection in 1949, having passed through the hands of collectors and dealers in Paris and Venice, including Arthur Sambon and Italico Brass, before being acquired from Alessandro Brass. The museum’s provenance records trace its exhibition history from Paris in 1929 to Rome in 1943, and later to Buffalo and Hartford in the mid-20th century.