On-line gallery
- Reference number
- P02253
- Author
- Lorraine, Claude (French)
- Title
- Moses saved from the waters of the Nile
- Chronology
- 1639-1640
- Technique
- Support
- Measures
- 209 cm x 138 cm
- School
- Theme
- Shown
- No
- Entrance
- COLECCION REAL
- Procedence
- Royal Collection
The Bible story of the birth of
Moses (Exodus 2, 5-6) is set in a
landscape with trees and
architecture. The Pharaoh's
daughter and her ladies in waiting
pull a basket out of the Nile. It
is the one in which the prophet was
placed by his mother in order to
save him from the killing of male
Hebrew children ordered by the
Pharaoh.
The composition displays this
artists' qualities: the subject is
only a pretext under which to enjoy
depicting the ideal, serene Roman
countryside.
This work was painted for Felipe IV
(1605-1665) and was to be hung in
the Buen Retiro Palace. It is
listed as number 47 of the Liber
Veritatis, where it is inscribed as
“quadro per il Re di Spagna”
(“Painting for the King of Spain”).
It is a companion to The Archangel
Raphael and Tobias (P2255) The
Burial of Sainte Saraphia (P2252)
and Landscape with the Embarkation
of Saint Paula Romana at Ostia
(P2254), which are also in the
Prado Museum Collection.
