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Seventh Plague of Egypt
John Martin (English, 1789–1854)
1823
Medium/Technique
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
144.1 x 214 cm (56 3/4 x 84 1/4 in.)
Credit Line
Francis Welch Fund
Accession Number60.1157
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsPaintings
In the Bible, Moses calls down ten plagues before the pharaoh is persuaded to free the enslaved Israelites. This work, one of Martin's grandest paintings, depicts the seventh: "And Moses stretched forward his rod toward heaven, and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and fire rained down onto the earth." Moses and his brother Aaron are at the left upon the foreground balustrade while the anguished Egyptians, including the pharaoh, cower amidst the towering buildings of Thebes. Inspired by Turner, Martin produced a series of these dramatic ancient or biblical scenes. In this case, he drew upon some of the earliest illustrated publications on Egyptian monuments to create an authentic setting.
InscriptionsLower left: J Martin 1823
Provenance1825, sold by the artist to John George Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham (b. 1792 - d. 1840), Lambton Castle, Durham, England, for 500 gn. [see note 1]; by descent within the family to John Frederick, 5th Earl of Durham (b. 1884 - d. 1970), Lambton Castle; April 18, 1932, Earl of Durham sale, Anderson and Garland, Newcastle-upon-Tyne (sale held at Lambton Castle), lot 48, sold for £15. 1960, P. & D. Colnaghi, London; 1960, sold by Colnaghi to the MFA for £900. (Accession Date: October 13, 1960)
NOTES:
[1] The painting was included in the inaugural exhibition of the Society of British Artists, London, in 1824 (cat. no. 22), and was purchased by Lambton in 1825. See Thomas Balston, John Martin 1789-1854: His Life and Works (London, 1947), pp. 78-79 and Egyptomania: Egypt in Western Art, 1730-1930 (exh. cat. Paris, Ottawa and Vienna, 1994/1995), cat. no. 231, p. 372.
NOTES:
[1] The painting was included in the inaugural exhibition of the Society of British Artists, London, in 1824 (cat. no. 22), and was purchased by Lambton in 1825. See Thomas Balston, John Martin 1789-1854: His Life and Works (London, 1947), pp. 78-79 and Egyptomania: Egypt in Western Art, 1730-1930 (exh. cat. Paris, Ottawa and Vienna, 1994/1995), cat. no. 231, p. 372.