Advanced Search 
Gathering of the Manna
Antonio Tempesta (Italian, 1555–1630)
about 1600
Medium/Technique
Oil on alabaster
Dimensions
43 x 57 cm (16 15/16 x 22 7/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of the Margaret K. Koerner and Joseph Leo Koerner family
Accession Number2012.120
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsPaintings
In the book of Exodus God reassured Moses that the starving Israelites, forced to wander 40 years in the desert, would be nourished by manna, a divine food that fell to the ground each day like dew. This painting brilliantly incorporates the veining of its stone support to convey the miraculous sustenance. The artist carefully grouped the figures to echo the alabaster's patterning.
ProvenanceMartin Farqhuar Tupper (b. 1810– d. 1889), London. 1898, sold by J.D. Ichenhauser, London, to William Cornelius van Horne (b. 1843 – d. 1915), Montreal [see note 1]; 1915, passed to the estate of William van Horne, Montreal; November 25, 1991, anonymous (van Horne descendents) sale, Waddington’s, Toronto, included in lot 2030. 1994, sold by Stanley Moss and Co., Riverdale-on-Hudson, NY, to Joseph Koerner, London, and Cambridge, MA; 2012, gift of Joseph and Margaret Koerner to the MFA. (Accession Date: April 25, 2012)
NOTES:
[1] This is one of three companion paintings by Tempesta, including Joseph Explaining his Dream to his Brothers (MFA accession no. 2012.121) and The Destruction of Pharaoh's Horses in the Red Sea (private collection) that were sold together through 1994. That they had belonged to Tupper and were purchased in 1898 from Ichenhauser is according to a label on the reverse.
NOTES:
[1] This is one of three companion paintings by Tempesta, including Joseph Explaining his Dream to his Brothers (MFA accession no. 2012.121) and The Destruction of Pharaoh's Horses in the Red Sea (private collection) that were sold together through 1994. That they had belonged to Tupper and were purchased in 1898 from Ichenhauser is according to a label on the reverse.