Moses and his Ethiopian wife Zipporah: Difference between revisions
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==Description== |
==Description== |
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[[Moses]] stands in the foreground, with his left hand on the [[Tablets of Law]]. The tablets are in shadow, their contents unreadable. Behind him, to his right, stands |
[[Moses]] stands in the foreground, with his left hand on the [[Tablets of Law]]. The tablets are in shadow, their contents unreadable. Behind him, to his right, stands a black woman, possibly [[Zipporah]]. The ribbons in her hat resemble a cross. The oil on canvas painting is kept at the [[Rubenshuis]] museum.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Massing |first1=Jean Michel |author1-link=Jean Michel Massing |title=The image of the Black in western art |date=2010 |page=264 |publisher=[[Harvard University Press]] |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |isbn=9780674052710 |edition=New |url=https://archive.org/details/imageofblackinwe0003unse_k5z3/page/n5/mode/2up?q=Jordaens}}</ref><ref name="FAC">{{cite web |title=Mozes en zijn Ethiopische vrouw Seporah {{!}} Barok in de Zuidelijke Nederlanden {{!}} Een online museum |url=https://barokinvlaanderen.vlaamsekunstcollectie.be/nl/kunstwerk/mozes-en-zijn-ethiopische-vrouw-seporah |publisher=[[Flemish Art Collection]]}}</ref> |
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==Inspiration== |
==Inspiration== |
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[[Book of Numbers]] [https://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0412.htm#1 12:1] states that Moses was criticized by his older siblings for having married a "[[Cush (Bible)|Cushite]] woman", ''Aethiopissa'' in the Latin [[Vulgate]] Bible version. One interpretation of this is that Moses' wife Zipporah, daughter of [[Jethro (biblical figure)|Reuel/Jethro]] from [[Midian]], was black.<ref name="McGrath">{{cite journal |last1=McGrath |first1=Elizabeth |author1-link=Elizabeth McGrath (art historian) |title=Jacob Jordaens and Moses's Ethiopian Wife |journal=[[Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes]] |date=2007 |volume=70 |pages=247–285 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20462764 |issn=0075-4390}}</ref>{{rp|248}} |
[[Book of Numbers]] [https://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0412.htm#1 12:1] states that Moses was criticized by his older siblings for having married a "[[Cush (Bible)|Cushite]] woman", ''Aethiopissa'' in the Latin [[Vulgate]] Bible version. One interpretation of this is that Moses' wife Zipporah, daughter of [[Jethro (biblical figure)|Reuel/Jethro]] from [[Midian]], was black. Another is that Moses had more than one wife during his life. Jordaens view is unknown, and the painting has been exibited under titles without the name Zipporah.<ref name="McGrath">{{cite journal |last1=McGrath |first1=Elizabeth |author1-link=Elizabeth McGrath (art historian) |title=Jacob Jordaens and Moses's Ethiopian Wife |journal=[[Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes]] |date=2007 |volume=70 |pages=247–285 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20462764 |issn=0075-4390}}</ref>{{rp|248}} |
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Jordaens likely encountered the tale of Moses' wife in contemporary translations of the Bible and the writings of [[Josephus]]. Possibly he had also come into contact with the Jesuit [[Alonso de Sandoval]]'s works on Africa. Contemporary artists who also included black women in their paintings probably inspired him too, such as [[Jan van den Hoecke]]'s ''[[Sybil Agrippina]]''.<ref name="McGrath" />{{rp|254, 274}} |
Jordaens likely encountered the tale of Moses' wife in contemporary translations of the Bible and the writings of [[Josephus]]. Possibly he had also come into contact with the Jesuit [[Alonso de Sandoval]]'s works on Africa. Contemporary artists who also included black women in their paintings probably inspired him too, such as [[Jan van den Hoecke]]'s ''[[Sybil Agrippina]]''.<ref name="McGrath" />{{rp|254, 274}} |
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Revision as of 08:58, 22 January 2021
| Moses and his Ethiopian wife Zipporah | |
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| Artist | Jacob Jordaens |
| Year | c. 1645-1650 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Movement | Flemish Baroque |
| Dimensions | 116.3 cm × 104 cm (45.8 in × 41 in) |
| Location | Rubenshuis |
Moses and his Ethiopian wife Zipporah (Dutch: Mozes en zijn Ethiopische vrouw Seporah), c. 1645-1650, is a painting by Jacob Jordaens, a Flemish Baroque painter.[1][2]
Description
Moses stands in the foreground, with his left hand on the Tablets of Law. The tablets are in shadow, their contents unreadable. Behind him, to his right, stands a black woman, possibly Zipporah. The ribbons in her hat resemble a cross. The oil on canvas painting is kept at the Rubenshuis museum.[3][4]
Inspiration
Book of Numbers 12:1 states that Moses was criticized by his older siblings for having married a "Cushite woman", Aethiopissa in the Latin Vulgate Bible version. One interpretation of this is that Moses' wife Zipporah, daughter of Reuel/Jethro from Midian, was black. Another is that Moses had more than one wife during his life. Jordaens view is unknown, and the painting has been exibited under titles without the name Zipporah.[5]: 248
Jordaens likely encountered the tale of Moses' wife in contemporary translations of the Bible and the writings of Josephus. Possibly he had also come into contact with the Jesuit Alonso de Sandoval's works on Africa. Contemporary artists who also included black women in their paintings probably inspired him too, such as Jan van den Hoecke's Sybil Agrippina.[5]: 254, 274
The artist is likely to have made the painting not on commission, but for himself or a close friend.[5]: 247
Interpretation
Art historian Elizabeth McGrath says that
Moses defends his black wife before the viewer, not his brother and sister. It is from the viewer that the Ethiopian woman draws back, questioning, puzzled and perhaps a little fearful. By his brilliant exploitation of the device of inclusion and confrontation, Jordaens gives the subject a pointed relevance, challenging Christians of his day to accept Moses's Ethiopian, as Miriam and Aaron could not, not just as a representative of pagan wisdom, a shadowed image of their own Church, but as a neighbour, in herself.[5]: 282
Reference section
- ^ "Jacob Jordaens (I)". Netherlands Institute for Art History.
- ^ Smith Galer, Sophia (16 January 2019). "How black women were whitewashed by art". BBC. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
- ^ Massing, Jean Michel (2010). The image of the Black in western art (New ed.). Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 264. ISBN 9780674052710.
- ^ "Mozes en zijn Ethiopische vrouw Seporah | Barok in de Zuidelijke Nederlanden | Een online museum". Flemish Art Collection.
- ^ a b c d McGrath, Elizabeth (2007). "Jacob Jordaens and Moses's Ethiopian Wife". Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes. 70: 247–285. ISSN 0075-4390.