Nicolas Poussin, The Crossing of the Red Sea

1634
Oil
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia

Poussin de-emphasizes the drowned Egyptians, picturing instead the Israelites safe on the strand – although one of them in the right foreground is pulling a body ashore while his companions gather the armor and weapons of their erstwhile pursuers.

Moses stands in the surf at right, holding his rod. A tuft of hair rises at his forehead, a reminiscence of the horns and horn-like locks of earlier paintings. Above the sea a dark cloud represents the "pillar of fire and of cloud" (Exodus 14:24) through which the Lord had cast his fatal glance upon the Egyptians.

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