The Finding of Moses

The Finding of Moses by Paolo Veronese, painted around 1582 and now in the Galleria Sabauda in Turin, depicts the Egyptian princess discovering the infant Moses among the bulrushes of the Nile — an Old Testament episode that Veronese transforms into an elegant courtly gathering with richly dressed attendants in a lush landscape. The subject had been treated by Nicolas Poussin and later would be taken up by Tiepolo, but Veronese's version is among the most celebrated, the natural setting of the Nile bulrushes providing an opportunity for landscape painting alongside the figure group. The painting was acquired by the Savoy dynasty for the Turin royal collection; the Galleria Sabauda, established from the Savoy collection in the nineteenth century, is one of Italy's most important state museums, holding major works of Italian and Flemish painting acquired through centuries of dynastic collecting. The canvas's large scale (337 × 510 cm) indicates an important commission, probably for a Venetian palace or government building.

Veronese's characteristic warm, luminous palette and the elaborate costumes of the attendant women create a scene of courtly magnificence, with the landscape background adding atmospheric depth.