Commemorative 350th Anniversary Poster

A poster designed by Mark Podwal to commemorate the 350th anniversary of Jewish settlement in America is now available exclusively at the Museum Shop. Among its many images on a sail adorned with iconography representing the Jewish experience are: a Hanukkah menorah, calling to mind the Maccabees’ struggle for religious freedom; a Torah scroll, representing the core of the religious tradition; and a fig tree sprouting from a book, symbolizing the biblical verse “everyone shall sit under his own vine and fig tree….” Zechariah 3:10, which George Washington quoted in his letter to the Jews of Newport, R.I., in which he promised safety for every American. The ship is borne on the wings of an eagle, suggesting both the American eagle and the biblical verse from Exodus 19:4, describing the flight from Egypt “on the wings of eagles.” “I wanted to depict the Jewish cultural contribution, at that time, to the land that offered them a haven,” said the celebrated artist, whose work is represented in collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Library of Congress, the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, the National Gallery in Prague and the NMAJH.Price: $35.00