PALOMBO, DAVID

PALOMBO, DAVID (1920–1966), Israeli sculptor. He was born in Jerusalem and studied sculpture, restoration, and mosaics under Ze'ev Ben-Zvi , later teaching at the Bezalel School of Art, Jerusalem. He made his home on Mount Zion, where he founded a studio for the production of mosaics, wrought-iron work, and jewelry. In his small sculpture he moved from simplified representation to total abstraction using a diversity of materials including wood and rough or cut stone. Wrought iron attracted him and his talent was well suited to large-scale works as parts of architectural concepts. His first monumental work was the entrance gate to the yad vashem Memorial in Jerusalem (1961). This embodied a rhythmic composition of welded iron bars and steel electroplatings, a technique which he subsequently repeated. The impact of these works springs from the contrast of simple but expressive elements against the starkness of concrete walls. Palombo worked on other projects, of which the most important, the gates of the Knesset building in Jerusalem (1966), was finished shortly before his death in a road accident on Mount Zion. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: Spencer, in: Ariel (Autumn 1967), 58–61, includes plates; B. Tammuz, Art In Israel (1966), 153–4. (Yona Fischer)