Peace Menorah
Peace Menorah
Salvador Dali
Spanish, 1904 - 1989
Bronze with Jerusalem Stone Base
20 x 11 1/2 x 5 1/2 in. (50.8 x 29.2 x 14.0 cm)
Inscribed with signature and stamped H.C. (Hors Commerce) — aside from the numbered edition of 250 — on the bronze; base etched "JERUSALEM STONE / אבן ירושלים" in both English and Hebrew.
The Peace Menorah is among the most symbolically resonant works in Dalí's sculptural output. The seven-branched candelabrum — the Menorah, one of Judaism's oldest and most sacred symbols — is rendered here in Dalí's characteristically expressive, organic idiom: the branches and stem surge upward with visceral energy rather than geometric precision, rooted in a monumental column bearing the face of Moses, the Star of David, and Hebrew inscriptions encoding the words for heroism, peace, infinity, strength, inner greatness, and wisdom.
The design traces directly to Dalí's monumental commission for the State of Israel: a five-meter bronze Menorah installed at the entrance of Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv, where it stands as a landmark of peace and solidarity. The collector's edition bronze follows that monument in every essential detail, scaled for private hands.
This example is stamped H.C. (Hors Commerce — outside commerce), designating it as a presentation proof separate from the numbered edition, reserved by foundries and publishers for artists, collaborators, or significant institutional recipients. It is a designation that carries distinct rarity.
The stepped base in dark-veined Jerusalem Stone — engraved in both English and Hebrew — grounds the work in the physical and spiritual landscape of the Holy Land.
Catalogue reference: Descharnes & Descharnes, Dalí: Le Dur et le Mou — Sculptures et Objets, Eccart, 2004, p. 268, no. 688.
