The infant Moses trampling on the pharaoh's crown

Details

GASPARE DIZIANI (BELLUNO 1689-1767 VENICE)
The infant Moses trampling on the pharaoh's crown
oil on canvas
32 5/16 x 47 5/8 in. (82 x 121 cm.)

Provenance

Anonymous sale; Ader Picard Tajan, Paris, 22 June 1990, lot 26, as Francesco Fontebasso, where acquired by the present owner.

Literature

J. Bialostocki, 'Pictures by Gaspare Diziani in Poland,' Bulletin du Musèe National de Varsovie, II, no. 2, Varsovie, 1961, pp. 35-43, pl. 3.
E. Lucchesse, 'Sebastiano Ricci e Dintorni, Appunti sulla pittura del Settecento veneziano,' Studi di studia dell'arte, XXI, 2010, pp. 222-223, fig. 30.

Exhibited

Warsaw, The National Museum in Warsaw, Malarstwo Weneckie XV - XVIII W. ze zbiorów polskich oraz ze zbiorów Muzeum Sztuk Pięknych w Budapeszcie, Galerii Dresdeńskiej, Galerii Narodowej w Pradze, 1968, no. 63.

Special Notice

This lot is offered without reserve.

Conditions of sale

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Lot Essay

Gaspare Diziani here depicts the moment recounted by Josephus in Antiquities of the Jew (Book 2, 9:7) in which the infant Moses, having been rescued from the water by the pharaoh's daughter, is presented to the ruler. The pharaoh playfully placed his crown on the child's head, but Moses threw it down and trampled it underfoot, an omen that he would eventually overthrow the pharaoh.

Another painting by Diziani of the same subject and on a similar scale, though with variations to the composition, is today in the National Museum, Warsaw (inv. no. 506966).

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