Veiled Rebecca

Carved around 1870 by the Italian sculptor Giovanni Maria Benzoni (1809–1873), 'Veiled Rebecca' is a life-size marble of the Old Testament heroine from Genesis — Isaac's chosen bride — standing at the well as Eliezer offers her a gift. Benzoni's virtuoso chiselling turns a single block of marble into a translucent veil draped over her face, so thin that the features beneath appear to show through as if through wet fabric. Benzoni produced several versions of this fashionable 19th-century 'veiled sculpture' for European, American, and princely Indian patrons; the one at Hyderabad's Salar Jung Museum is the only Benzoni 'Rebecca' in South Asia.

Exhibition Venue

Salar Jung Museum

Hyderabad, India