Sick-Bed Vigil

MARKEWITSCH, VICTOR

1914

Oil on canvas. Dresden exhibition labels on back. Signed and dated by the artist lower right. Some paint loss. Recently cleaned

A heart-rendering scene of a desperately ill young man, three family members attending, each lost in grief. To the right of the sick-bed a gentleman wrapped in a Talith prays beside a book-case. Draped over the bedstead is the young man’s ritual four-cornered fringed garment. At the foot of the bed a woman weeps in despair. Of particular interest, is the prominent portrait of Sir Moses Montefiore, the sole pictorial adornment in this moving setting. (cf. Rubens 1892; EJ, XII col.272) A significant painting, seemingly undocumented