Moses found by Pharaoh's daughter, Italy 18th century

Nicolas Poussin (Les Andelys 1594 - Rome 1665) Workshop of
Little Moses found by Pharaoh's daughter

Oil painting on canvas
Measurements: canvas 45 x 59 cm. - in frame 57 x 71 cm.

We present this splendid work representing the episode, taken from the Old Testament, of the finding of little Moses by the daughter of the Pharaoh (Exodus 2, 1-10), and which reveals from the first glance the unequivocal pictorial style of the painter. Nicolas Poussin (Les Andelys 1594 - Rome 1665).

Poussin spent most of his life in Rome giving life to works capable of fusing the ideal of French classicism with the Italian art of the Renaissance.He was a prolific artist and considered by his contemporaries as one of the greatest living artists at the beginning of the '600.

The work, which shows unequivocal characters derived from the Italian Renaissance-inspired by Raphael, would lead us to think it was made in the Eternal City around the first half of the century, by an artist who certainly came into contact with the works of Poussin (whose period of activity in Italy took place between 1624 and 1640).

Although it is not easy to formulate a precise attribution, given the extremely prolific and heterogeneous cultural environment, however, for what can be deduced by observing the painting and its excellent quality, it is likely to be traced back to the workshop of the French master.

As regards the theme depicted, Poussin ventured many times in episodes dedicated to the life of Moses. Probably the biblical account of the rescue of the child from the waters of the Nile must have particularly stimulated his sensitivity, perhaps because it was congenial to his cheerful nature.

According to the Bible, Moses' mother fearing the persecutions of the Pharaoh that she had ordered to kill all Jewish male babies, she hid her baby in swaddling clothes in a reed bed on the banks of the Nile. The baby was found by the daughter of the Pharaoh in the company of her handmaids, who she decided to take care of him.
In our canvas, the elegant Egyptian princess looks with amazement at the beautiful child shown by her handmaids and whom she will later adopt.

The skillful direction of light-shadows and chromatic relationships gives the painting a sort of theatrical setting and through the refined construction by diagonals, the painter creates a visual cone that directs the gaze towards the basket that contains the little Moses. The pharaoh's daughter, recognizable by the richness of her embroidery, is represented standing, intent on welcoming the child recovered from the river.

The landscape views in the background rich in details, with hills, perched villages, and architecture, which evoke the area surrounding Rome, are of great effect.