Bunch of Beautiful Nudes

Pharaoh's Daughter by the English painter Frederick Goodall (1822-1904).

An Adventure of a Princess

Moses Found (c. 1570-75) by the Italian Renaissance painter Paolo Veronese (1529-1588).

Courtly Lady

The finding of Moses by the Italian rococo painter Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1696-1770).

Tiepolo focuses here completely on the courtly lady with her servants, entourage and dogs. Paintings like this were always a appeal for patronage. The rich and powerful noblewoman would show her generosity.

Pharaoh's Daughter and Moses

The finding of Moses by the French artist Paul Gustave Doré (1832–1883), one of his Bible illustrations of 1866.

Pharaoh's daughter and her entourage are here depicted in a proper historical manner. So that the scenery looks realistic. But the stage light from above focusing on the basket with Moses reveals the artificial construction of the whole setting.

Finding Moses

The Finding of Moses (c.1650) by the French Baroque painter Sébastien Bourdon (1616-1671). Bourdon studied in Paris and Rome where he was influenced by the paintings of Nicolas Poussin, Claude Lorrain and Caravaggio. Here the influence of Poussin could easily be observed.

Neoclassic Scenery

Pharaoh's daughter finding baby Moses (1855) by the Russian painter Konstantin Dmitriyevich Flavitsky (1830-1866).

Flavitsky was a neoclassic painter and specialized in biblical and Russian legends. What attracts the attention in this painting is above all it’s rationalistic construction: the light, the diagonal lines, the arrangement of the persons.

Indian Princess

The Finding of Moses (1884) by the Brazilian painter Pedro Américo de Figueiredo e Melo (1843-1905). Like most Latin American artists Américo studied in Europe and became a typical academic painter. Nevertheless his Pharaoh's daughter looks like a Brazilian Indian.

Exotic Women finding Moses

The Discovery of Moses (1888) by the Canadian painter Paul Peel (1860-1892).

Peel studied in London and later at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris under Gérôme and others. So it isn’t surprising that his painting reminds a lot of that works by Alma-Tadema or Gérôme who had great success with women in exotic or historical settings.

Oriental Nudes

The finding of Moses (1886) by the English painter Edwin Longsden Long (1829-1891).

Long was primarily an Orientalist painter. He had travelled to Spain, Egypt and Syria to provide himself with inspirations for his lucrative paintings. The biblical subject is here a minor matter, it’s more a pretext to show some exotic nudes in a likewise exotic scenery.

Merry old Egypt

The Finding of Moses by Pharaoh's Daughter (1904).

This idyllic and cheerful painting is by the Dutch-born victorian painter Lawrence Alma-Tadema English Classicist Painter (1836-1912). He specialized in history paintings where he idealized Greek and Roman life. As it was expected from a history painter in this time the painting is rich in historical details, exotic costumes and flowers. It’s very similar to Alma-Tadema usual classical subjects. He hasn’t any real religious purpose at all, the bible only provides him with another historical subject.

Pharaoh's daughter as Patron

Everybody knows the story of Moses. That he was set adrift on the Nile River in a basket because his mother wanted to save his live. That he was Pharaoh's daughter, who adopted him as her own son, so that he grew up as a younger brother to the future Rameses II. As a political and religious leader, lawgiver, and prophet Moses is probably the most important figure in the Bible. Nevertheless I’m more interested in Pharaoh's daughter.

In Jewish texts she is called Thermuthis and it is said that she later fled with the Jews during the Exodus and became Jewish by marriage. Despite she is not very important in the Bible - she is not even named there – she was very attractive to painters. In the interpretation of art she was a very important noble woman, something like a queen, who adopted a poor orphan and arranged his future. So she was the ideal symbol for any kind of patronage or sponsorship.

Paintings of Pharaoh's daughter were popular among mighty women, to show their generosity, their love, their maternally gifts. Among artists they were popular to appeal for sponsorship. Pharaoh's daughter has to be seen therefore as a patron of the arts.

Finding of Moses (1638-40)

Moses saved (1651)

These two examples are by the French painter Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665), who is considered as the founder of the French Classical tradition at the end of the Baroque era. Interesting is the classical architecture in the background. A pyramid and an obelisk are symbolizing Egypt, but the costumes are like a classical artist would have imagined Greeks or Romans.