GASPARE DIZIANI (BELLUNO 1689-1767 VENICE)

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).