Moses' Childhood (모세의 어린시절)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nicolas Poussin 1593/94 – 1665

Moses abandoned

oil on canvas (144 × 196 cm) — 1628-29

  Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden

Nicolas Poussin biography

 

This work is linked to Exodus 2:3

(출 2:3)

더 숨길 수 없게 되매 그를 위하여 갈대 상자를 가져다가 역청과 나무 진을 칠하고 아기를 거기 담아 나일 강 가 갈대 사이에 두고

 

Moses was born when the Jews lived in Egypt. Pharaoh had ordered that all newborn Jewish boys were te be killed. He feared that one of them could be a threat to him. Moses' mother tries to hide him as long as she can. But after a while she sees no other option than to abandon him and to hope that whoever finds him will care for him.

In his classicist style Poussin painted that moment. In the background, on the opposite shore, stands Pharaoh's daughter. The basket with the boy would soon float in her direction.

 

 

 

 

Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn 1606 – 1669

Moses Found

oil on canvas (47 × 59 cm) — 1635

Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia

Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn biography

 

This work is linked to Exodus 2:6

(출 2:6)

열고 그 아기를 보니 아기가 우는지라 그가 그를 불쌍히 여겨 이르되 이는 히브리 사람의 아기로다

 

Egypt's Pharaoh has decided that all male Hebrew children must be killed. Moses' mother manages to keep her son hidden for a few months but then she is forced to abandon the child in an unusual manner.

She lays Moses in a basket and leaves it on the bank of a river. Here we witness how Pharaoh's daughter finds the basket, after having bathed in the river. She decides to take care of the child.

 

 

 

Paolo Veronese 1528 – 1588

Moses Found

oil on canvas (57 × 43 cm) — c. 1580

  Museo del Prado, Madrid

Paolo Veronese biography

 

This work is linked to Exodus 2:6

(출 2:6)

열고 그 아기를 보니 아기가 우는지라 그가 그를 불쌍히 여겨 이르되 이는 히브리 사람의 아기로다

 

Pharaoh's daughter and her maidens have saved the basket with Moses from the river Nile. They wrap him in a cloth. Out of compassion, the daughter decides to take the boy home, even though she notes he is Hebrew.

Veronese (pseudonym of Paolo Caliari) added a dwarf to the scene. At the time, dwarfs were common at many European courts. Perhaps Veronese used the dwarf as an attribute to emphasise the royal nature of the company.

In the background an Italian town is visible.