| Greek,
Renaissance and Baroque represent the height of Western Art, which was
always based on using the human figure as the ultimate form of
expression. Joseph Sheppard's work follows in this tradition. Having
heard, read and seen photographs of the Holocaust horror, he has
always had intense feelings about it. After receiving this commission,
he visited the Dachau concentration camp and upon returning to his
studio in Italy, this sculpture emerged.
The sculpture represents the flame of
death that offered the only escape from suffering for the Holocaust
victims. In the flame, he depicts their images particular to their
tragedy; old and young, male and female, starved, broken and naked.
After the next generation there will be no more living eyewitnesses to
the tragedy. This monument will be a grim reminder of the horror and
will contribute to the prevention of any possible recurrence.
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