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1 of 253523 objects
The Exposition of Moses c. 1645
Red-brown oil paint on paper | 39.5 x 55.8 cm (sheet of paper) | RCIN 904078
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A drawing of a group of figures looking down from a low wall upon another group, which includes a man with his arm extended as he gently sets afloat the basket containing the baby Moses. In the lower left corner a recumbent river god leans on an urn from which water flows; there is a crocodile at his side. A pyramid features amongst the buildings in the distance. To save the infant Moses from Pharaoh’s order that all Israelite boys be put to death, his mother hid him in a basket among reeds on the banks of the Nile (represented by a river god with a crocodile). The child was subsequently found by Pharaoh’s daughter and saved. Both this sheet and the previous (RCIN 904061) probably depict the moment at which the infant was set afloat on the river, though many of the anguished figures are men rather than women.
Provenance
Probably Carlo II and Fernandino-Carlo Gonzaga, 9th and 10th Dukes of Mantua; Zaccaria Sagredo; from whose heirs purchased by Joseph Smith, British Consul in Venice, 1752; from whom purchased by George III, 1762
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Medium and techniques
Red-brown oil paint on paper
Measurements
39.5 x 55.8 cm (sheet of paper)
Object type(s)