Actual Factual Georgia

A: The book of Genesis tells the story of how Isaac met Rebekah, who traveled far from her family and native land to marry a man she had never seen. When she spotted Isaac for the first time, she "took her veil and covered herself," as Genesis 24:65 states, which was the inspiration for the sculpture called "The Veiled Rebekah" (or Rebecca) by Italian Giovanni Maria Benzoni.

It’s thought he made four copies of “The Veiled Rebekah” in the 1860s – one is at a museum in India and another is in the Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield, Massachusettes – and one finished in 1864 has been an Atlanta fixture for more than 100 years.

The white marble statue is part of the permanent collection at the High Museum of Art, where it can be viewed on its pedestal on the second level of the Stent Family Wing. This copy of “The Veiled Rebekah” has a prominent Georgian to thank for its arrival in Atlanta. John B. Gordon, who was a Confederate general, a U.S. Senator and Georgia governor, acquired “The Veiled Rebekah” sometime in the late 19th century. A document provided by the High states that Brown’s wife gave the statue to the museum in 1899, becoming one of the “first works to enter the High Museum of Art’s collections.”

The statue was on exhibit at the Carnegie Library in downtown Atlanta in 1904 and then was on loan there (and later the Central Library) from 1927 to 1983. To many, the craftsmanship of the veil is the most eye-catching part of the statue and veiled figures “enjoyed a great revival in the (19th) century because it highlighted the sculptor’s virtuosity in working marble,” the High’s document states. Just like Rebekah quickly won Isaac’s love, “The Veiled Rebekah” has been capturing the hearts of Atlantans for years.