Image source: getty.edu
Moses and the Messengers from Canaan
Artist:Giovanni Lanfranco
| Support Type: | Canvas |
| Paint Type: | Oil Paint |
| Current Location: | J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles |
| Location History: | The painting created in 1621-24 , remained in the chapel until around 1660 - 68, after which it was moved to the sacristy and later to the refectory. By 1763, the painting had been transferred to the Convento di San Callisto in Rome. In the early nineteenth century, between 1803 and 1806, the work entered the collection of Cardinal Joseph Fesch and remained with him until his death in 1839. It was subsequently held by his estate and was sold in Rome in 1843 to Alessandro Aducci. By the twentieth century, the painting was in the collection of Algernon William John Clotworthy Skeffington, 12th Viscount Massereene and 5th Viscount Ferrard. It later passed by inheritance to his son, John Clotworthy Talbot Foster Whyte-Melville-Skeffington. Following a sale at Christie’s in London in 1968, the painting was acquired by Hallsborough Gallery. In 1969, it was purchased by the J. Paul Getty Museum, where it is housed today. |
Giovanni Lanfranco's Moses and the Messengers from Canaan dramatises the biblical moment when twelve spies return from the Promised Land, laden with grapes, figs and pomegranates as proof of Canaan's bounty. Painted from a low angle to enhance monumentality for its original high chapel placement, the work emphasizes Moses' towering stature, marked by horns of light on his forehead. The prominent grapes symbolically prefigure Eucharstic wine, aligning the Old Testament narrative with catholic sacrament theology in the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament.
Information Compiled by
Shambhawi Singh