Reuven Rubin, (1893-1974), The First Fruits, 1923, triptych, oil on canvas, coll. Rubin Museum, Tel Aviv
First Fruits was painted by artist Reuven Rubin in 1923. It is a triptych, a painting in three panels, traditionally a Christian expression of homage, that can be viewed from several angles. It is a landscape. The people in the picture represent those then found in Mandatory Palestine. The Arabs in the two side panels are sidelined, in favor of the drama of the central panel, which depicts the ritual offering of the
Bikkurim, firstfruits offered up during the days of the Temple. These first fruits are both real and figurative. In the panel on the right, the camel nails the scene firmly in the Orient; the lily is a symbol of renewal.
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