My paintings are mainly pictures of words. Contemplating words as if they were objects encourages viewers to focus less on their meanings and more on their sanctity. The butterfly floating between word and viewer is a symbolic veil -- as in the veils of the Holy of Holies at the Temple -- intended to separate human beings from the unbearable intensity of transcendent holiness. (That Christianity insists that "the veil ripped" at the death of Jesus, while Judaism believes that the veil survives -- that intimacy and transcendent holiness co-exist -- is one of the central issues between the two systems of thought.) My "gisants", inspired by the recumbent tomb-sculpture of the Abbey of St Denis, represent the first three kings of the United Monarchy of Israel: Saul, the tragic hero; Solomon, every inch a king; David, who stalks, raging, forever. They are intended as part of a reconstruction-in-art of Royal Jerusalem, whose spectacular artistic and intellectual achievement is often lost in the countless layers that came after. Royal Jerusalem can never be reconstructed by archeology--it can only be recaptured and re-imagined in art. This is the ancient city that did more than any other to shape the western mind. Both types of picture are part of my attempt to speak about Judaism in images. Jewish art must speak directly about Judaism, not about Jewish types or customs or cultural milieux. It must not stand in some ethnic enclave, but squarely in the mainstream of western art. -- David Gelernter Gisant of Solomon; acrylics, pastels, cloth and metal leaf on panel, 24 x 72. 2012. Gisant of David; acrylics, pastels and liquid iron on panel, 24 x 72. 2012. Gisant of Saul; acrylics, pastels, metal leaf and liquid iron on panel, 24 x 72. 2012. Kivtah Nafshi; acrylics, liquid steel and pastels on panel, 18 x 24. 2012. De Profundis; acrylics, oil, pastels and metal leaf on canvas, 48 x 60 . 2010. SOLD Lecha Dodi; acrylics, metal leaf and