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Moses and the Brazen Serpent
Luca Giordano·c. 1670
Historical Context
Moses and the Brazen Serpent at Compton Verney depicts the Old Testament episode where God commands Moses to raise a bronze serpent to heal the Israelites bitten by venomous snakes. This subject prefigured Christ's crucifixion and was popular in Counter-Reformation typological art. Oil on canvas suited Giordano's rapid working method: he typically laid in compositions with fluid, transparent washes then built form with loaded brushwork, completing large canvases in days. His stylistic eclecti...
Technical Analysis
The dramatic crowd scene of suffering and healing allows Giordano to display his skill with multiple figures in varied poses. The raised serpent provides a strong compositional vertical amid the writhing masses.
Look Closer
- ◆Notice the raised bronze serpent as a strong vertical compositional anchor amid the writhing crowd of afflicted figures below — the pole elevates the healing object above the suffering it addresses.
- ◆Look at the varied poses of suffering: Giordano's 'fa presto' technique allows him to render a large crowd in different states of snake-bite agony without losing compositional clarity.
- ◆Find the prefiguration of the Crucifixion embedded in the subject: a man lifted on a pole to heal those who look upon him — Giordano's Counter-Reformation audience would have recognized this Old Testament type of Christ's cross.
- ◆Observe that Compton Verney holds several Giordano works, suggesting sustained collecting of the Neapolitan master's biblical subjects by British country house collectors.
