Obj. ID: 56244
  Sacred and Ritual  Mizrah, Amsterdam, 1843

The following description was prepared by William Gross:

Mizrah (Hebrew: מזרח "east") is the Hebrew word for "east" and the direction that Jews in the Diaspora face during prayer. Jewish law prescribes that Jews at prayer face the site of the Temple in Jerusalem. In addition, "Mizrach" refers to an ornamental wall plaque used to indicate the direction of prayer in Jewish homes. In a synagogue, that direction would be obvious as it is the side of the building on which the ark was placed. But in a home or Sukkah the direction had to be indicated. It is customary in traditional Jewish homes and the Sukkah to mark the wall in the direction of Mizrach to facilitate proper prayer. For this purpose, people use artistic wall plaques inscribed with the word Mizrach and scriptural passages like "From the rising (mi-mizrah) of the sun unto the going down thereof, the Lord's name is to be praised" (Ps. 113:3), Kabbalistic inscriptions, or pictures of holy places. Such plaques were most often manuscript forms or printed sheets, ranging from the simplest idea of the word only to elaborately decorated pages with a wide range of images and texts. These plaques are generally placed in rooms in which people pray, such as the living room or bedrooms. The four letters of the Hebrew word MiZRaCH are sometimes indicated as the initial letters of the Hebrew phrase Metzad Zeh Ruach CHaim (From this side the source of life).

There are 4 recorded examples of elaborately decorated and inscribed lithographs by the mid-18th-century Dutch artist Levi David van Gelder, who signed his works with the initials L.D.V.G. Filled with Biblical and Masonic imagery and references, they are major accomplishments of the lithographer art. This example is marked explicitly with the Hebrew word "Mizrach", or "East".  In the lower right-hand corner is an image of David and Goliath. The figure of Goliath finds its inspiration in a 17th-century etching by the artist Matthaeus Merian. Most of the Biblical illustrations used in Jewish art find their source in his etchings, such as those used in the most famous illustrations of the 1695 Amsterdam Haggadah.