Obj. ID: 13938
Modern Jewish Art   Sgan-Cohen, Altar of Sacrifice

An altar is depicted at the center of a canvas, on a greenish-brown ground with desert hills in the background. Two brass colored wooden staves stand on the floor and lean against the right side of the picture, throwing their shadow on the canvas. The altar, seen from the side, is composed of a platform on which a ramp leading up to the base is reminiscent of a stage, on which stands the altar itself. This central brick altar is surrounded by a fence on three sides. A green and pink brick protrudes upwards from each corner of the altar representing the four horns of the altar. Reddish black fire burns in the top of the altar, inscribed above in Hebrew cursive script in black letters: מערכה. This word has a dual meaning: Place of the Fire/Battle. A brass plaque is nailed to the canvas on the base of the altar above the platform. An inscription is hammered on the plaque in Hebrew block letters, and is painted in green: נחשת/Brass. Half of the stage is painted a green color which dripps over a lower layer of brown, similar to the color of the ramp. Another Hebrew inscription is written on the side of the brown wooden ramp in black cursive letters:  כ/קבש/ס which can be read as two words: כבש meaning Sheep/Ramp and קבס means Nausea. In the upper left corner of the canvas a number 8, made of brass, is attached to the painting, above the depiction of a stick on a bright yellow background. Below it is an inscription of two words in Hebrew block letters. Each word is set within a square נחש הנחשת/The Brass Serpent.