Description
This Hanukkah lamp, known as a "bench" type, features a back panel molded with scenes and figures in the taste of the Italian Renaissance, cast in bronze. Lit during the eight evenings of the festival, the hanoukkia comprises a row of oil cups and an auxiliary light holder (chamach) used to kindle the others. The Italian decoration of this type displays biblical heroes, putti, and acanthus scrolls in an architecturally composed arrangement drawn from the Renaissance ornamental repertoire. Testifying to the artistic acculturation of Italian Jews, this lamp illustrates the adaptation of Italian artistic forms to the Jewish ritual object.
