TheFinding of Moses, sometimes called "Moses in the Bulrushes", "Moses Saved from the Waters",[1] or other variants, is the story in chapter 2 of theBook of Exodus in theHebrew Bible of the finding in the RiverNile ofMoses as a baby by thedaughter of Pharaoh. The story became a common subject in art, especially from the Renaissance onwards.
Depictions in Jewish andIslamic art are much less frequent, but some Christian depictions show details derived from extra-biblical Jewish texts. The earliest surviving depiction in art is afresco in theDura-Europos synagogue, dating to around 244. The motif of a "naked princess" bathing in the river has been related to much later art. A contrasting tradition, beginning in the Renaissance, gave great attention to the rich costumes of the princess and her entourage.
Moses was a central figure in Jewish tradition and was given various significances in Christian thought. He was regarded as atypological precursor ofJesus. He could also, at times, be regarded as a precursor orallegorical representation of things as diverse as thePope,Venice, theDutch Republic, orLouis XIV.
The subject also represented a case of afoundling or abandoned child, a significant social issue in modern times. The subject is unusual in standardhistory painting in that it requires a number of female figures, but apart from the baby, no male figures are necessary. Many painters took the opportunity to depict femalenudes.
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Chapter1:15–22 of theBook of Exodus recounts how during the captivity inEgypt of the Jewish people, thePharaoh ordered: "Every Hebrew boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live." Chapter2 begins with the birth of Moses, and continues:
A certain member of the house of Levi went and took [into his household as his wife] a woman of Levi. The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw how beautiful he was, she hid him for three months. When she could hide him no longer, she got a wicker basket for him and caulked it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child into it and placed it among the reeds by the bank of the Nile. And his sister stationed herself at a distance, to learn what would befall him. The daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe in the Nile, while her maidens walked along the Nile. She spied the basket among the reeds and sent her slave girl to fetch it. When she opened it, she saw that it was a child, a boy crying. She took pity on it and said, “This must be a Hebrew child.” Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get you a Hebrew nurse to suckle the child for you?” And Pharaoh’s daughter answered, “Yes.” So the girl went and called the child’s mother. And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will pay your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed it.[2][3]
The biblical account allows for a variety of compositions. There are different moments in the story, which are quite often compressed or combined in depictions, and the moment shown, and even the identity of the figures, is often unclear. In particular, Miriam and Moses's mother, traditionally given the nameJochabed, may be thought to be included in the group around the princess.[4]
The Hebrew word usually translated as "basket" in verse 3 can also mean ark or small boat. The basket, usually with a rounded shape, is more common inLatin Christianity, and the ark more so in Jewish andByzantine art; it is also used inIslamic miniatures.[5] In all traditions, most depictions show a stretch of open river with few reeds. The vessel is sometimes seen drifting in many 19th-century depictions, and some in late medieval manuscripts of theBible Moralisée type.
The less common preceding scene of Moses being left in the reeds is formally called "The Exposition of Moses".[6] In some depictions, this is shown in the distance as a subsidiary scene, and some books show both scenes. In some cases, it may be hard to distinguish between the two; usually, the "Exposition" includes Moses's mother and sister and sometimes his father and other figures.
Rivka Ulmer identifies recurrent "issues" in theiconography of the subject:[7]
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Medieval depictions are sometimes found inilluminated manuscripts and other media. The incident was regarded as atypological precursor of theAnnunciation, and sometimes paired with it. This probably accounts for it being represented as a faded fresco on the rear wall in the" Annunciation" by Jan van Eyck in theNational Gallery of Art, Washington.[8] It might also be regarded as prefiguring "the reception of Christ by the community of the faithful,"[9] theResurrection of Jesus, and the escape from theMassacre of the Innocents by theFlight into Egypt.[10] The princess was often seen allegorically as representing the Church, or earlier, theGentile Church.[11] Alternatively, Moses might be a type forSaint Peter, and so by extension the Pope orPapacy.[12]
Cycles with the life of Moses were not common, but where they exist, they may be with this subject if they have more than four scenes.[13] The fourth centuryBrescia Casket includes it among its 4 or 5 relief scenes from the Life of Moses, and there is thought to have been a depiction (now lost) in the mosaics ofSanta Maria Maggiore. There is a 12th-century cycle instained glass in theBasilica of Saint-Denis which includes it. Cycles are most often paired with one of the "Life of Christ", as later in theSistine Chapel, where the scheme of paired cycles was intended to evoke the oldest Christian art.[14] There are several short cycles in luxury manuscripts of theBible Moralisée and related types, some of which give the story more than one image.[15]
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The depiction in the 12th-century EnglishEadwine Psalter has a naked female swimmer in the water, holding the empty ark with one hand, while a clothed female with her feet in the water holds out the baby to the princess, who reclines on a bed or litter. This is part of some 11 scenes of the life of Moses.[16] This may relate to the Jewish visual traditions covered below.[17]
The artist of a French Romanesque capital has enjoyed himself showing the infant Moses threatened bycrocodiles and perhaps hippos, as often shown inclassical depictions of the Nile landscape. This sporadic treatment anticipates modernBiblical criticism: "The cameo of the birth of Moses does not fit the reality of the Nile, where crocodiles would make it dangerous to send a babe in a basket onto the water or even to bathe by the shore: even if the poor were forced to take the risk, no princess would."[18]
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The walls of theSistine Chapel hadfacing paired cycles of the lives of Christ and Moses in large frescos, and a "Finding" byPietro Perugino began the Moses sequence on the altar wall until it was destroyed in the 1530s to make space forThe Last Judgment byMichelangelo, along with a "Nativity of Jesus". Perugino'sMoses Leaving for Egypt now begins the cycle.[19]
Independent pictures of the subject became increasingly popular in the Renaissance and Baroque periods, when the combination of several elegantly dressed and graceful ladies with a waterside landscape or classical architectural background made it attractive to artists and patrons.[20] ForVenice the story had a particular resonance with the early history of the city.[21] These paintings were for homes and palaces, sometimes for foundling hospitals.
In addition,child abandonment remained a significant social issue in the period, withfoundling hospitals,orphanages specifically for abandoned children, a common focus of charitable activity by the rich.[22] The seal of the LondonFoundling Hospital showed the scene. The artistFrancis Hayman gave them his painting of the subject, where it hung next toWilliam Hogarth's painting of a slightly later episode of the young Moses and the princess.[23] A depiction byCharles de La Fosse was one of a pair of biblical subjects commissioned in 1701 for thebilliards room at thePalace of Versailles, paired with "Eliezer andRebecca";[24] possibly the idea was to encourage those winning bets on the game to give their winnings to charity.
The 17th century saw the height of popularity for the subject, withPoussin painting it at least three times,[25] as well as several versions of "The Exposition of Moses".[26] It has been suggested that the birth in 1638 of the futureLouis XIV, whose parents had been childless for 23 years, may have been a factor in the interest of French artists. The poetAntoine Girard de Saint-Amant wrote anepic poem, "Moyse sauvé" between about 1638 and 1653.[27]
As well as the Catholic countries, there were also several versions inDutch Golden Age painting, where theOld Testament subject was considered unobjectionable, orphanages were run by boards of "regents" drawn from the local wealthy, and the story of Moses was also given contemporary political significance.[28] A painting of the subject shown on the wall behind "The Astronomer" byVermeer may represent knowledge and science, as Moses was "learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians."[29]
A painting byBonifazio de' Pitati of 1545 was perhaps the first large and elaborate treatment of the subject to concentrate on a larger courtly group, entirely using carefully depicted contemporary costumes; he painted at least one smaller similar version of the subject.[30] Bonifazio painted a number of biblical subjects as "modern aristocratic reality", which was already an established pictorial mode in Venice.[31] This is essentially a large aristocratic picnic, complete with musicians, dwarves, many dogs and a monkey, and strolling lovers, where the baby represents an object of polite curiosity.[32] ANiccolò dell'Abbate from c. 1570, now in the Louvre, represents a more classical treatment, with the same "classical" costumes and atmosphere as his mythological subjects. This is closely followed by several compositions byVeronese, using the modern dress of his day.[33]
The paintings of Veronese and others, especially Venetians,[34] offered some of the attractions of subjects from pagan mythology but with a subject with a Christian context. Veronese had been called before the Inquisition in 1573 for the improper depiction of theLast Supper as an extravagant festivity mainly in modern dress, which he renamed "The Feast in the House of Levi." Since the "Finding" indeed called for a party of lavishly dressed court ladies and their attendants, it avoided such objections.[35]
Veronese's costumes, contemporary when he painted them in the 1570s and 580s, became established as a sort of standard, and wseveraland repeated in new compositions by a umber of Venetian painters in the 18th century, during a "Veronese revival."[36] The famous painting byGiovanni Battista Tiepolo in theNational Gallery of Scotland dates from the 1730s or 1740s, but avoids the fashion of that period and bases its costumes on a Veronese now inDresden, but in Venice until 1747;[37] another Tiepolo now in theNational Gallery of Victoria uses the style of Veronese even more thoroughly.[38]
Nicolas Poussin was attracted both to subjects from the life of Moses and history subjects with an Egyptian setting.[39] His figures wore the 17th-century idea of ancient dress, and the cityscapes in the distant background includepyramids andobelisks, where previously most artists, for example, Veronese, had not attempted to represent a specifically Egyptian setting.[40] An exception is NiccolincludesAbbate, whose broadly painted cityscape include several prominent triangular elements, although some might be gable-ends. Palm trees are also sometimes seen; European artists, even in the north, had been used to depicting these from painting the "Miracle of the Palm" on theFlight into Egypt in particular.
For good measure the main three versions by Poussin all include a Roman-styleNilus, the god or personification of the Nile, reclining with acornucopia, in two of them in company with asphinx,[41] which follows a specific classical statue in the Vatican.[42] His 1647 version for the banker Pointel (now Louvre) includes ahippopotamus hunt on the river in the background, adapted from the RomanNile mosaic of Palestrina.[43] In a discussion at theAcadémie royale de peinture et de sculpture in 1688, the painting was criticised for two breaches of artistic decorum: the princess' skin was too dark, and the pagan god was inappropriate in a biblical subject. Both details were corrected in a version intapestry, though the sphinx survived.[44] Poussin's treatments show awareness of much of the scholarly interest in Moses in terms of what we now callcomparative religion.
After that, attempts at an authentic Egyptian setting were irregular until the start of the 19th century, with the advent of modernEgyptology, and in art, the development ofOrientalism. By the late 19th century, exotic decor was often dominant, and several depictions concentrated on the ladies of the court, naked but for carefully researched jewellery. The reed beds in the Bible are often given prominence.[45] The extensive history of the scene in the cinema began in 1905, the year after SirLawrence Alma-Tadema finished his painting, with the "Finding" the opening scene in a 5-minute biographical film by the French companyPathé.[46]
The earliest visual depiction of the "Finding" is afresco in theDura-Europos synagogue, datable to around 244, a unique large-scale survival of what may have been a large body of figurative Jewish religious art in the Hellenized Roman imperial period.[47] This part of a composite image shows several episodes from the childhood of Moses (only the left end illustrated here). It displays bothMidrashic details in the narrative and visual borrowings from the iconography of classical paganism.[48] Six of the 26 frescos in the synagogue have Moses as their main subject.[49] There are a few illustrations in mainly medieval Jewish illuminated manuscripts, mostly of theHaggadah, some of which seem to share an iconographical tradition going back tolate antiquity.[50]
Jewish textual traditions elaborate on the Book of Exodus in various ways, and it has been argued that some details can be detected in Christian art as well. One Jewish tradition was that Pharaoh's daughter was identified as Bithiah, aleper who was bathing in the river to cleanse herself, seen as a ritual purification for which she would be naked. As atDura-Europos, Jewish depictions often include her, and sometimes other women, standing naked in the river.[51] According to Rabbinic tradition, she was healed as soon as she touched the ark carrying Moses.[52]
The earliest surviving Christian depiction is afresco of the 4th century in the Catacomb ofVia Latina, Rome. Four figures are on the bank, with Moses still in the water; the largest is the princess, who stretches out her arms, which the baby also does. This gesture may derive from a textual variation found in Midrashic sources and theAramaic translation of the Bible. In these "she ... sent her female slave" is changed to "she stretched out her arm."[53] Though the context is Christian, many of the images here are of Old Testament subjects,[54] and very likely reflect models adopted from an initially Jewish visual tradition, perhaps painted by artisans with sets of models for all religious requirements. In the playExagōge byEzekiel the Tragedian, Moses recounts his finding, saying of the princess: "And straightway seeing me, she took me up", which may be reflected both in theNew Testament inActs 7:20, and in artistic depictions where the princess is first to grasp the ark.[55]
The motif of the naked princess standing in the water, sometimes accompanied by naked maids, reappears in Jewish manuscript illuminations from Spanish workshops in the late Middle Ages, along with some other details oficonography found in the Dura-Europos synagogue.[56] In the 14th-centuryGolden Haggadah there are three, while Moses's sisterMiriam sits on the bank watching them.[57] Other works include the so-called "Sister of the Golden Haggadah" manuscript, and the (Christian)Pamplona Bibles.[58] By contrast, the 18th-century Venice Haggadah has been influenced by local Christian depictions, and shows a clothed princess on land.[59]
A different tradition is first found inJosephus, who was read by Poussin and influenced his treatment of this and other biblical scenes. His account of the finding has the princess "playing by the river bank" and spotting Moses being "borne down the stream". She "sent off some swimmers" to fetch him. Thus in Poussin's 1638 "Finding" in theLouvre a burly male emerges from the water with the child and basket, a detail sometimes copied by other painters.[60] This is followed inSebastian Bourdon's painting of 1650, with two male swimmers.[61] Italian paintings more often show female swimmers or at least women who have landed and are drying themselves after handing the baby to the princess, as inSebastiano Ricci,Salvator Rosa,Giovanni Francesco Romanelli, as well as a painting in theRijksmuseum byPaulus Bor andCornelis Vroom from the 1630s, and Poussin's 1651 composition. The only painting of the subject fromRembrandt 's studio shows several naked women who have just come out of the water, bringing the basket.[62]
There is an unusual depiction in theEdinburgh University Library manuscript of theJami' al-tawarikh, an ambitious world history written in theIlkhanate, nowIran, at the start of the 14th century. In theQur'an and Islamic tradition, it is Pharaoh's wifeAsiya who rescues the baby, not his daughter. Here, the baby Moses remains in his ark, which is carried along a river with curling Chinese-style waves towards the women.[63]
The queen is in the river with an attendant, both at least clothed in undergarments (more clothes seem to be hanging from a tree branch), and an older servant, or Moses's mother, on the bank. The ark appears enclosed and solid; it looks like an elongated coffin, perhaps because the artist was unfamiliar with the subject. There are few comparable Islamic world histories, and like other scenes in theJami' al-tawarikh, this may be all but unique in Islamic miniatures. The composition may be derived from Byzantine depictions.[64]
This manuscript has seven miniatures of the life of Moses, an unprecedented number perhaps suggesting a unique identification with Moses by the authorRashid-al-Din Hamadani, aconvert from Judaism who became chief minister of the Ilkhanate.[65]
Zalpuwa is the setting for an ancient legend about the Queen ofKanesh, which was either composed in or translated into theHittite language:[66]
"[The Queen] of Kanesh once bore thirty sons in a single year. She said: 'What a horde is this which I have born[e]!' She caulked(?) baskets with fat, put her sons in them, and launched them in the river. The river carried them down to the sea at the land of Zalpuwa. Then the gods took them up out of the sea and reared them. When some years had passed, the queen again gave birth, this time to thirty daughters. This time she herself reared them."
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