Moses and the Burning Bush
Nicolas Poussin (French, 1594–1665)
1641
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Classification
- Painting
- Dimensions
- height 203.7 cm, width 170.8 cm
- Culture
- French
- Museum
- SMK – National Gallery of Denmark
- Rights
- Public Domain Mark: SMK waives its rights in this photograph, as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed
View at the SMK – National Gallery of Denmark
About this work
Poussin painted and drew a range of scenes showing the Old Testament figure of Moses. In the artist’s own day Moses was considered a ”type” – a predecessor – of Jesus, and the narratives of the Pentateuch were seen as foreshadowing the New Testament stories about the Messiah. The painting merges two passages from Leviticus and The Book of Numbers (3:2; 34:3). God appears to Moses in the form of a burning bush that is never consumed by the flames, ordering him to lead the Jewish people out of Egypt. The staff of Moses is transformed into a snake; a miracle that convinces the Jewish people that they should follow Moses. The entire composition exudes the same sense of weight and calm as sculptures from classical antiquity.
