Artwork
The Finding of Moses
The Finding of Moses is an oil painting by the Mannerist artist Veronese. It dates from 1582 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Technique & Style
No information on current condition, conservation history, or specific stylistic analysis is supplied in the available sources.
The Finding of Moses is executed in oil on canvas, a medium consistent with Veronese's mature Venetian practice. The painting dates to circa 1581–1582 and measures 58 by 44.5 centimeters, indicating a relatively modest, vertically oriented support suited to an intimate narrative composition. The canvas support and oil medium would have allowed Veronese to build up richly colored, layered passages typical of his handling, though the provided sources do not detail specific pigment choices, underdrawings, or surface condition.
The work is classified as a religious painting, and its small scale and format are characteristic of cabinet pictures produced for private devotion or elite collectors, rather than the large-scale decorative cycles for which Veronese is also known. No information on current condition, conservation history, or specific stylistic analysis is supplied in the available sources.
The dimensions cited above are drawn from Wikidata, which lists the painting at 58 cm in height and 44.5 cm in width.
History & Provenance
Attributed to Paolo Veronese, the painting is dated to circa 1581–1582. The work's recorded history begins with Louis Michel Vanloo in Paris, from whose collection it was purchased on 14 December 1772. The acquisition was facilitated by Augustin Ménageot and Denis Diderot for Empress Catherine II of Russia, after which the piece entered the Imperial Hermitage Gallery in Saint Petersburg.
It remained there until November 1930, when it was acquired by Andrew W. Mellon through a consortium of dealers including the Matthiesen Gallery, P. & D. Colnaghi & Co., and M. Knoedler & Co. as part of Soviet-era sales. Mellon deeded the painting to the A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust on 1 May 1937, and the Trust subsequently gifted it to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., later that same year.
Overview
Paolo Veronese's "The Finding of Moses," painted around 1581-1582, is an oil on canvas work. This painting depicts a significant biblical event and is currently housed in the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. It exemplifies the artist's late Renaissance style, characterized by rich color and intricate compositions.
Subject & Meaning
The painting illustrates the Old Testament narrative of the infant Moses being discovered in the Nile River. Veronese presents this event as a grand spectacle, featuring numerous figures engaged in the scene. The artist meticulously renders elaborate costumes and architectural elements, drawing the viewer's attention to the opulence and narrative richness of the composition.
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