– 235
2019
Alberto Raiteri
Hanukkah - Building
100 x 150 cm
Mixed media and collage on canvas
The shape of the candelabra was created using some pages from a text on the French Revolution, on top of which part of the first book of the Maccabees was written. The two groups of pages on the four lateral arms contain the description of the invasion and the revolution of Maccabees. The shamash, placed in the center, is represented by two overlapping pages with the narration of the reconsecration of the Temple. A series of war helmets, depicted at the foot of the nine arms of the hanukkiah lamp, symbolizes the defeat of the Greek army of Antiochus IV. The left part of the painting, at the bottom, shows a sevivon, or dreidel, in memory of the prohibition of the study of the Torah by Antiochus. The central figures symbolize the union of the family over which the eye of G-d watches. On the right, a construction site helmet and three men transporting stone blocks represent the reconstruction of the Temple, hence the title of the artwork.