[Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News] Gustav Bauernfeind's painting of the Temple Mount entrance, 1886

From Israel HaYom:

In one of the rooms of the Jordanian royal palace in Amman hangs a famous painting from 128 years ago by the artist Gustav Bauernfeind. This breathtaking piece of art depicts a group of Jews standing at the Cotton Merchant's Gate, one of the entrances to the Temple Mount.

The artist himself wrote of the painting: "Before this gate stands a group of Jews, who are more or less extending their necks toward their Garden of Eden, which in the past was their national holy site, basking in the glow of the sunlight with various colors. … The gate's guard -- I almost said the Temple's guard -- holds a spear in his hand, preventing their entry. Inside the compound Muslims wander about, dressed in vibrant colors. A good contradiction, is it not?"

King Hussein, the late father of the current monarch, Abdullah, noticed the painting during a visit to Germany more than two decades ago. He fell in love with it immediately. His emissaries paid a fortune to buy it. Through his deft use of the paintbrush, Bauernfeind unwittingly provided the snapshot image that reflects the manner in which the Hashemite kingdom views itself -- the guardian at the gate and legal custodian of the Muslim holy places in Jerusalem.

The piece sold for $533,755 in 1999.

The rest of the article is very good as well, but this painting encapsulates how Muslims want the Temple Mount to look today: smilingly holding spears to prevent the hated, wretched Jews from visiting while Muslims use the holy place as a park.

(h/t YMedad)



--
Posted By Elder of Ziyon to Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News at 11/28/2014 08:00:00 AM