48″ x 32″, Venetian glass, smalti, gold tesserae, gems, gold leaf on wood panel. Completed in August 2002.
A frightened Queen Esther is carefully making her way to her quarters hoping no one is following her. I made use of exaggerated chiaroscuro in order to emphasize the drama of such a moment. In her hands she holds the scroll with Haman’s order for all Israelites’ execution on a certain date. This massacre would obliterate the entire Hebrew lineage from the face of the earth. The comparatively few Israelites who returned to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple – as Cyrus ordered them to do a few years earlier would not have been enough to survive and continue the Judaeo-Christian lineage. Therefore, Queen Esther’s task to stop the genocide is of huge importance. She must devise a strategic plan for a successful outcome. Her timing and appearance must be impeccable.
As in all the mosaics of The Queen Esther Series I use the window wrought iron design as a unifying motif. The stylized word “zion” on Esther’s necklace pendant is purposely written in reverse, as were Leonardo Da Vinci’s notes. Da Vinci was afraid that given the nature of his thoughts, his writings if read by members of the Inquisition of his times would almost certainly lead to his arrest. Queen Esther was bound to secrecy by Mordechai; her background had to be hidden from everyone at King Ahasuerus’s court. Only a member of her tribe could understand the message on the pendant if written in reverse.
