Moses with his Mother in the Bullrushes
British (English) School
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1800 - 1899
Materials
Oil on board
Measurements
145 x 110 mm
Order this imageCollection
Kingston Lacy Estate, Dorset
NT 1258732
Caption
Here we see the terror of a mother about to abandon her child in order to save his life. The menacing dark clouds give the scene its mood. According to the biblical story the Pharoah in Egypt had ordered all male infants of Isarealites to be put to death, as their number was growing too quickly. Moses's mother made an ark of bulrushes and put him in it and laid it in the reeds of the Nile's riverbank. He is found and adopted by Pharoah's daughter but given a Hebrew nurse, who secretly is his mother, thus ensuring, circuitously, one day he would become the great leader of the Jewish peeople. This Victorian interpretation of the episode centres on the sentimental emotion of the moment.
Summary
Oil painting on board, Moses with his Mother in the Bullrushes, British School, mid-19th century. Here see the terror of a mother about to abandon her child in order to save his life. The menacing dark clouds give the scene its mood. According to the biblical story the Pharoah in Egypt had ordered all male infants of Isarealites to be put to death, as their number was growing too quickly. Moses's mother made an ark of bulrushes and put him in it and laid it in the reeds of the Nile's riverbank. He is found and adopted by Pharoah's daughter but given a Hebrew nurse, who secretly is his mother, thus ensuring, circuitously, one day he would become the great leader of the Jewish peeople. This Victorian interpretation of the episode centres on the sentimental emotion of the moment.
Provenance
Bequeathed by Ralph Bankes (1902-1981)
Makers and roles
British (English) School, artist