Nicolas Poussin - The Finding of Moses [1651]

Nicolas Poussin - The Finding of Moses [1651], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

To escape Pharaoh's order to kill Israelite boys Moses was placed in an ark of bullrushes upon the Nile. Here he is discovered by Pharaoh's daughter (in yellow), who is attended by her maidens and by the baby's sister Miriam (in white), who cradles the child. Painted in 1651 for Monsieur Reynon, a silk merchant in Lyon, this is the latest and grandest of Poussin's three versions of the subject. The other two are in the Louvre, Paris. This picture once belonged to the Marquis de Seignelay and later to Clive of India.

[Oil on canvas, 115.7 x 175.3 cm]