- Artist/Maker:
- El Lissitzky
- Bio:
- Russian, 1890-1941
- Title:
- The Fire Came and Burnt the Stick
- Portfolio/Series:
- Had Gadya Suite (Tale of a Goat)
- Date:
- 1919
- Medium:
- Lithograph on paper
- Dimensions:
- Sheet: 16 × 14 in. (40.6 × 35.6 cm) Image: 10 3/4 × 10 in. (27.3 × 25.4 cm)
- Credit Line:
- Gift of Leonard E. and Phyllis S. Greenberg
- Accession Number:
- 1986-121g
Not On View
"Had Gadya," sung at the conclusion of the Passover seder, describes the purchase of a young goat, which is then eaten by a cat, which in turn is bitten by a dog. After a series of assailants, God destroys the final attacker, ending the vicious cycle. The song is an allegory for the persecution of the Jews, while demonstrating God's ultimate triumph over evil and death. The artist transforms "Had Gadya" into a metaphor for the triumph of the Bolshevik Revolution.
Information may change as a result of ongoing research.