Antique Painting Religious Subject Moses Miracle XVII-xviii Century

Oil on canvas.
Set in a classical landscape rich in vegetation, the scene depicts the biblical episode from the Book of Genesis that tells how the people of Israel, as they were crossing the Sinai Desert to reach the Promised Land, found themselves without water: Moses calls upon God for help and performs the miracle of bringing water forth from a rock.
In the scene, the people of Israel rejoice and celebrate the miracle, rushing to bathe and quench their thirst in the pool of water brought forth by Moses, who can be glimpsed standing to the left of the dry tree trunk in the foreground—a symbol of the land’s aridity.
The tree branches swaying in a strong wind and the sky laden with dark clouds that are beginning to part evoke the presence of God.
The numerous figures, rendered with meticulous detail, create a sense of movement and action.
This painting has previously been offered at a Lempertz auction, attributed to Giovanni Ghisolfi (1623–1683), an artist who achieved a perfect blend of tradition and modernity, thanks to a deep interest in classicism, rendered with effective perspective in the landscape and great precision in the details of the figures.
Restored and re-stretched, the painting is presented in a gilded frame from the late 19th century.
ARARPI0270126