Jerzy Duda Gracz (1941 - 2004), "Veraicon".

oil on canvas, 1987, 183 x 64 cm, signed monogrammed and dated in lower left corner: "DG 1201/87".

Jewish themes were present in Jerzy Duda-Gracz's work from the very beginning - in the 1960s, while he was still a student at an art high school, he taught drawing classes for the Jewish community in Częstochowa, later also in Katowice, and as his diploma work he created a series of prints called "Judaica."
The presented work presents a vision of the interpenetration of two contradictory ideologies - the Judaic religion, which does not recognize the role of Christ in salvation, and the Christian religion, where Christ is one of the key figures, the messiah. In a perverse way, the author painted the image of Christ's face from St. Veronica's shawl, the so-called Veraicon, on a ground that imitates a tallit, or prayer shawl used by Jews. Such a juxtaposition underscores the inseparable link between the two religions, their common roots and affiliation.