Carlo Saraceni, 'Moses defending the Daughters of Jethro', 1609-10
About the work
Overview
This picture illustrates an episode in the life of Moses (Exodus 2: 16–19). Having fled Egypt, Moses was resting by a well in the land of Midian when seven women, the daughters of a priest named Jethro, approached to draw water for their sheep. A number of shepherds tried to drive them away, but Moses came to their defence.
Moses occupies the centre of this composition, his outstretched arms creating distance between one of the angry shepherds and one of the women, who gazes skyward in anguish. In the lower right, one of the sisters is visible arguing with another shepherd, while two more stand by the well, their sheep close by.
This jewel-like picture is painted in oil on copper, Saraceni’s preferred support during his early years in Rome, where he had settled in In 1598. Copper offered an extremely smooth surface on which to paint, allowing artists to capture exquisite details like the individual leaves on the trees in this picture.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- Moses defending the Daughters of Jethro
- Artist
- Carlo Saraceni
- Artist dates
- 1579 - 1620
- Date made
- 1609-10
- Medium and support
- oil on copper
- Dimensions
- 28.5 × 35.3 cm
- Acquisition credit
- Bequeathed by Benedict Nicolson, 1978
- Inventory number
- NG6446
- Location
- Room 26
- Collection
- Main Collection
- Frame
- 17th-century Italian Frame
Provenance
Additional information
This painting is included in a list of works with incomplete provenance from 1933–1945; for more information see Whereabouts of paintings 1933–1945.
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Michael Levey, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Italian Schools’, London 1986; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Bibliography
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1955M. Grindea, Artists in Seventeenth-Century Rome (exh. cat. Wildenstein & Co., 1 June - 16 July 1955), London 1955
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1967L. Oehler, 'Zu einigen Bildern aus Elsheimers Umkreis', Städel-Jahrbuch, I, 1967, pp. 148-70
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1968A.O. Carina, Carlo Saraceni, Milan 1968
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1970B. Nicolson, 'Review: A. Ottani Carina, Carlo Saraceni, Milan, 1968', The Burlington Magazine, CXII, 1970, pp. 312-5
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1971R.W. Bissell, 'Review: A. Ottani Carina, Carlo Saraceni, Milan, 1968', Art Bulletin, CIII, 1971, pp. 248-50
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1977K. Andrews, Adam Elsheimer, Oxford 1977
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1978R. Kulzen, 'Ein unbekanntes Frühwerk von Carlo Saraceni', Pantheon, XXXVI, 1978, pp. 139-42
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1979H. Potterton, 'A Saraceni for the National Gallery', The Burlington Magazine, CXXI/910, 1979, pp. 28-31
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1980National Gallery, The National Gallery Report: January 1978 - December 1979, London 1980
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1981R. Pallucchini, 'La pittura veneta alla mostra, "Italian art and Britain": Appunti e proposte', in E. Ruhmer (ed.), Festschrift Eberhard Hanfstaengl, 1961, Munich 1981, pp. 73-84
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1983M. Helston, Spanish and Later Italian Paintings, London 1983
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1986Levey, Michael, National Gallery Catalogues: The Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Italian Schools, London 1986
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1993G. Finaldi, 'The "Finding of Moses"', National Gallery News, 1993
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1994A. Thomas, An Illustrated Dictionary of Narrative Painting, London 1994
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2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
About this record
If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.