Veiled Rebecca


The Veiled Rebecca or The Veiled Rebekah is a marble sculpture created by the Italian neoclassical sculptor Giovanni Maria Benzoni.

History and description

Benzoni first executed the work in 1863 for Robert Winthe of London. It depicts the scene from the Hebrew Bible when a modest Rebecca covers herself with a veil upon meeting her future husband, Isaac.
Veiled women were a popular sculptural motif among Benzoni and his peers in 19th-century Italy for a number of reasons. The first was that these works highlighted the artistry of the sculptor since achieving the illusion that stone is fabric clinging to a body requires a high level of skill. Secondly, a veiled woman had become an allegory for Italian unification.
Benzoni's workshop made a number of copies of The Veiled Rebecca. A 19th-century English art journal noted that:

Copies

Copies of The Veiled Rebecca can be found at these museums: