Live Auction 22319Remastered: Old Masters from the Collection of J.E. Safra - Selling Without Reserve
GASPARE DIZIANI (BELLUNO 1689-1767 VENICE)
Lot 23

GASPARE DIZIANI (BELLUNO 1689-1767 VENICE)

The infant Moses trampling on the pharaoh's crown

Closed24 May 2023

Price Realised

USD 23,940

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GASPARE DIZIANI (BELLUNO 1689-1767 VENICE)
The infant Moses trampling on the pharaoh's crown
oil on canvas
32 5/16 x 47 5/8 in. (82 x 121 cm.)

Anonymous sale; Ader Picard Tajan, Paris, 22 June 1990, lot 26, as Francesco Fontebasso, where acquired by the present owner.

Specialist note

Gaspare Diziani here depicts the moment recounted by Josephus in Antiquities of the Jew (Book 2, 9:7) in which the infant Moses, having been rescued from the water by the pharaoh's daughter, is presented to the ruler. The pharaoh playfully placed his crown on the child's head, but Moses threw it down and trampled it underfoot, an omen that he would eventually overthrow the pharaoh.

Another painting by Diziani of the same subject and on a similar scale, though with variations to the composition, is today in the National Museum, Warsaw (inv. no. 506966).