Hanukkah lamp with the portrait of Joseph II

This Hanukkah lamp consists of eight oil lamps on a tray, held by a halberdier on each side in typical clothing from the eighteenth century. On the back, there are four prancing lions, and the bust of the emperor Joseph II. The figures of Joseph II became symbolic in the fights for legal emancipation of the Jews, and thus their portraits often appeared on Jewish art and even ritual objects, despite the theoretical prohibition against figurative portrayal. This Hanukkah lamp has been on permanent exhibit since 1933, demonstrating that emancipation and the chance of civic betterment have always been very important for the Jewish community of Pest, who are the symbolic owners of the Museum, and that the reforms of the Enlightenment era were the first in history to support this aim.