The Scholar

​The chiselled features of the bearded scholar wearing a skull cap and grasping his open book with both hands seem to float in space, because his delineated torso forms a void.  His features resemble those of Herman Wald’s late father. The hands grasping the holy book express a profound and tender reverence for the object they embrace. The sense of composure, serenity and wisdom of the scholar seem to draw from his text. The study of the Hebrew Bible, Talmudic learning  and the  analysis of holy texts in Jewish tradition  was admired above all else during  Wald’s childhood and youth.