Star of David on The Libyan Sibyl

• Creator

• William Wetmore Story, born Salem, MA 1819-died Vallombrosa, Italy 1895

• Created Date

• modeled 1861, carved 1868

• Partner

• Smithsonian Institution

• Contributing Institution

• Smithsonian American Art Museum

• Description

• A sybil was an ancient prophetic priestess who guarded her writings that foretold the future. The emblem on this sybil's necklace is an ancient symbol indicating her mystical powers, though today it is commonly associated with the Jewish Star of David, and with Exodus, and the escape of the Jewish people from slavery. The Libyan Sybil sits contemplating the fate of the African people, after reading the scroll she holds in her left hand. William Wetmore Story conceived this sculpture after the onset of the Civil War, and his letters confirm that he intended it to be a symbolic condemnation of African American slavery: "She is looking out of her black eyes into futurity and sees the terrible fate of her race. This is the theme of the figure--Slavery on the horizon.
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• Source: https://dp.la/
  [Digital Public Library of America]

18th century Haftarah Book with Two Gold Stars of David

Two Gold Stars of David

This illuminated, undated codex thought to date from the 18th century consists of a Haftarah… The scribe and probably the illuminator of this manuscript was Abraham bar Chizkija ha Lévi. The manuscript previously was owned by Samuel Gráf of Csakatorn and by Anton Kohn of Zagreb, who had it in his possession around 1858. A third owner was Moses Issachar, son of Isaac of Schleining. It is now in the collections of the Slovak National Library.

Source:

https://www.wdl.org/en/item/7382/