The Finding of Moses | Narodna galerija

The motif of this painting is taken from the Bible (Ex 2, 5–10) and shows Pharao’s daughter saving little Moses from the water and giving him to a wet nurse, who is in reality his mother. In Christian symbolism this event from the Old Testament anticipates Christ, who will escape the Slaughter of the Innocents in Bethlehem. The central group in our picture, the mother and little Moses, is reminiscent of the group of the Virgin Mary and the Child.

Stylistically the painting is characteristic of Andrea Celesti’s mature period, but its quality suggests that it is the work of pupils and assistants rather than of the artist himself.

Artist Andrea Celesti

Technique oil, canvas

Dimensions 112 x 155 cm

Inventory number NG S 1264, National Gallery of Slovenia, Ljubljana

Restored: 1960, ZSV, Ljubljana.
Provenance: LBG, Graz, No. 35 until, 1903; transferred to the spa at Dobrna to furnish the rooms there; acquired by the Narodna galerija in 1932, old Inv. No. 422 (Italian, second half 17C: The Mother of God with Two Female Saints).
Exhibitions: 1960, Ljubljana, No. 34; 1983, Ljubljana, No. 23; 1985, Belgrade, No. 16.
Lit.: Cevc 1960, p. 24, Cat. No. 34, Fig. 21; Rizzi 1970, p. 234, note 3; Rizzi 1972, p. 134, No. 34; Zeri [& Rozman] 1983, pp. 115–116, Cat. No. 23, Fig. 22.