Object number1937.4

The Finding of the Infant Moses

DateNd

Artist Jacopo Vignali (Italian, 1592-1664)

CultureItalian

MediumOil on canvas

DimensionsUnframed: 12 5/8 x 15 3/4 in. (32 x 40 cm)
Framed: 21 1/4 x 24 7/16 x 2 3/8 in. (54 x 62 x 6 cm)

Credit LineMuseum purchase

On View

On view

Period17th c

Classification(s)

Painting

Terms

MarkingsStretcher: (Left): Lrddj; (Top): 12022 in blue chalk, 31 in ink, LRddj in black chalk; da Tintoretto over rose colored chalk; (Right): residue of wax seal; stamp - circular with smaller circle inside it with some kind of castle like shape and possibly lettering that reads: fur denkmal landesamt

ProvenanceGalerie Sanct Lucas, Vienna;
purchased 1937 by VC Art Gallery
Exhibition HistoryVienna, Galerie Sanct Lucas, “Ausstellung Italienische Barockmalerei,” May-June, 1937. Cat. no. 69;

Poughkeepsie, Vassar College Art Gallery, “Exhibition of Italian Baroque Paintings of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries,” December 1940. Cat. no. 15;

Poughkeepsie, VC Art Gallery, “An Exhibition in Memory of Agnes Rindge Claflin,” April 30-June 4, 1978. Cat. no. 6;

New York, NY, Metropolitan Museum of Art, “Florentine Baroque Art from American Collections,” April 16-June 15, 1969. Cat. no. 25

Label TextThe Finding of Moses is among the most important works by Florentine painter Jacopo Vignali. It represents the Old Testament narrative of the infant Moses, whose mother protected him from the massacre of Israelite boys by hiding him in a basket in the river Nile, where he was discovered and rescued by the Pharaoh’s daughter (Exodus 2:3-6). Vignali created a sense of drama for this discovering by depicting the vibrantly attired figures of the Pharaoh’s daughter and her attendants against dark and moody woods, which contrasts with the blue sky and mountain in a distant clearing. Chromatic richness and luminous effects are hallmarks of Vignali’s baroque style, and the sumptuous, pearl-encrusted garment of the Pharaoh’s daughter reflected Florence’s proud tradition of textile production. This work was commissioned to decorate a villa owned by the noble Florentine Pucci family. In a smaller work, one of only two known oil sketches of this subject by the artist, Vignali chose a slightly different arrangement of figures in the landscape. Probably a preparatory study for the large canvas, the sketch similarly emphasizes light and dark contrasts and creates an almost stage-like effect for the figures in the landscape. Yet its looser brushwork lends a certain dynamic quality to the figures’ gestures and rustling drapery, in a manner distinct from the detailed embellishments of the larger painting. Vassar acquired Vignali’s sketch in the 1930s, at a time when museums in the United States were just beginning to take significant interest in baroque art, while the larger composition was acquired in 2015.

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email loebcollections@vassar.edu