The Finding of Moses

This 1722 Finding of Moses in the Royal Collection depicts the rescue of the infant prophet from the Nile by Pharaoh's daughter, one of the most frequently painted Old Testament subjects. The narrative — a baby in a basket drawn from the water by an Egyptian princess and her attendants — combined the pathos of infant vulnerability with the grace of aristocratic femininity and the divine providence that protected the future lawgiver. Ricci's treatment brings his characteristic warm palette and fluid figure style to this popular subject, the princess's compassionate attention to the infant Moses expressing the gentle maternal sentiment that made the Finding such an enduring compositional type.

The royal retinue and riverside setting are rendered with Ricci's luminous palette, the elegant figures and lush landscape creating the kind of sumptuous decorative narrative for which he was internationally celebrated.