The Finding of Moses
Sébastien Bourdon·c. 1655/1660
Historical Context
Sébastien Bourdon's Finding of Moses, painted around 1655 to 1660, reveals this French painter engaging deeply with the Italianate classicism he had absorbed during a formative stay in Rome in the 1630s. The story of Moses discovered in the bulrushes by Pharaoh's daughter, drawn from Exodus 2, was a popular subject for seventeenth-century painters because it allowed the representation of an outdoor scene combining figures in Antique dress with a landscape setting and a narrative of providential rescue. Bourdon treats the subject with architectural gravity, organizing his figures in a frieze-like arrangement that owes something to Poussin's compositional discipline while incorporating Bourdon's warmer, more atmospheric palette. As a French Protestant who spent time in Stockholm painting for Queen Christina, Bourdon occupied an unusual position in the European art world, and his mature works demonstrate sophisticated negotiation between Roman, French, and Northern influences.
Technical Analysis
The composition unfolds horizontally across the picture plane in a Poussinist frieze arrangement, with warm amber and ochre tones dominating the landscape. Bourdon's handling is smoother than Poussin's, with more atmospheric blending in the sky and foliage. Figures are solidly modeled with clear, readable gesture.
Provenance
Possibly Adriaen Paets II [1657-1712], Rotterdam; possibly (his sale, Rotterdam, 26 April 1713, no. 19).[1] Possibly François Antoine Robit [c. 1752-1815], Paris; (exhibition and sale, including Robit collection, by private contract, Mr. [Michael] Bryan's Gallery, London, 6 November 1801 and following days [exhibition closed 31 May 1802], no. 44).[2] Arthur L. Nicholson, London and Llandaff House, Surrey, by 1937 until at least 1939.[3] (Paul Drey, New York); sold 1948 to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[4] gift 1961 to NGA. [1] Pierre Rosenberg, Guido Jansen, and Jeroen Giltaij, _French Paintings from Dutch Collections, 1600-1800_, exh. cat., Musée des beaux-arts, Dijon; Institut nederlandais, Paris; Museum Boymans-Van Beuningen, Rotterdam; Rotterdam, 1992: 21, 35: "Een Stuk, door Sebastiaen Bourdon, zeer excellent, verbeeldende de Vindinge Van Moises in den Nyl, hoog 3 voet 9 duim breed 5 voet 4 duim" ("A piece by Sebastien Bourdon, very excellent, illustrating the Finding of Moses in the Nile, measuring 3 feet, 9 inches high and 5 feet 4 inches wide"). This entry appears in the Paets sale of 26 April 1713; see Gerard Hoet, _Catalogus of naamlyst van schilderyen, met derzelver pryzen, zedert een langen reeks van jaaren zoo in Holland als op andere plaatzen in het openbaar verkogt, benevens een verzameling van lysten van verscheyden nog in wezen zynde cabinetten_, 3 vols., Soest : Davaco, 1976 (reprint of the 1752-1770 ed.): 1:156, no. 19. The measurements, given according to the Rhineland Scale, are approximately 118 x 168 centimeters. [2] "_The Finding of Moses_ by Sébastien Bourdon," sold by the dealer Bryan in London in 1801, in a sale which included works from the Robit collection, may be NGA 1961.9.65, but we have no evidence beyond the artist's name and the title. See Colin Eisler, _Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: European Schools Excluding Italian_, Oxford, 1977: 289-290. [3] Nicholson lent the painting to the 1937 Paris and 1939 Liège exhibitions. [4] See The Kress Collection Digital Archive, https://kress.nga.gov/Detail/objects/2172.
