"The Breath of Life" is a Giclée print on watercolor paper after the original lithograph from Abel Pann's portfolio, "The Bible - Genesis: From the Creation until the Deluge." Originally published in 1924, the complete portfolio includes 25 lithographs that each depict a different story from Genesis, the first book of the Old Testament. Here we have the 9th print in the portfolio and as the title suggests it is an illustration of Genesis 2.7, "He blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being." God's breath, a radiant yellow beam of light, slices through the caliginous, previously lifeless atmosphere. 

Though the portfolio today is rarely found in a complete set, each lithograph is an individual work of mastery by Pann, who was once considered one of the most important artists in Israel. 

Art: 10-1/2" x 5-1/2" 
Frame: 28-1/4" x 21-3/4"
Printed signature lower right

“Over many years, Abel Pann (1883-1963) was regarded as the foremost Land Of Israel Painter. This view was shared by the Jewish community throughout the world and by the general public in pre-State Israel where reproductions of his works were hung in almost every home”. This is how Yigal Zalmone, Chief Art Curator of the Israel Museum, describes Abel Pann.

An interesting approach that Pann used in these illustrations was to depict the Biblical subjects using contemporary clothing and imagery. Using contemporary Middle Eastern characters in Oriental dress within local settings fulfilled the Zionist dream that the Jewish people were going to return to their homeland and renew their days of old.