Beschreibung
Etching:
Depiction of the rescue of the Jewish people in the desert, depicted here as a mountain landscape. In the front left, Moses is accompanied by Aaron and is striking a rock with a stick to create a spring. They are surrounded by many sitting and standing men, women and children, who are being saved from dying of thirst. The name of the painter, Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665) is below the image, on the left. The printed signature of the engraver, Jean Baptiste Michel (1748-1804), is on the bottom right. At the bottom centre is the English title, the coat of arms of the Walpole family and the size of the painting. The publication address of London publisher John Boydell and the publication date 1 January 1778 are cut here. From the second volume of the Houghton Hall painting gallery book from Robert Walpole’s collection of paintings, almost all sold to the Russian Tsarina Catherine II by her nephew George Walpole, published by Boydell. Le Blanc 3, Rubinstein II. 53. The painting is now in the Hermitage of St. Petersburg.
