Nicolas Poussin
Moses Sweetening the Waters of Marah
1621-1631
Scroll
Nicolas Poussin
Moses Sweetening the Waters of Marah
1621-1631
Physical Qualities
Oil on canvas, 60 × 82 1/2 in. (152.4 × 209.6 cm.)
Credit Line
Purchase with exchange funds from Gift of Mrs. Leslie Legum, Mrs. Bernice Kolodny, Mrs. Florence Trupp and Albert Hendler, in Memory of their Mother, Rose D. Hendler, Gift from the Estate of Mrs. John Hemsley Johnson, Gift of Paul Rosenberg, and Bequest of Saidie A. May; C. Lavinia Bamberger Fund, and Josephine C. Morris Fund; and partial gift of M. Knoedler & Co., Inc.
Object Number
1958.7
This large-scale painting, completed shortly after Nicolas Poussin’s arrival in Rome in 1624, depicts a story from the Old Testament (Exodus 15:22–25). Moses, with a beard and flowing hair, plunges a tree limb into a stream of water that spills forth from an opening in the rocky wilderness of Marah. As the bitter waters are sweetened and made drinkable, Moses’ followers react to the miracle with strong gestures and expressions.
Poussin spent much of his career in Rome synthesizing a wide range of ancient Greek and Roman influences. His paintings are grounded in a close study of antique objects, a quality evident in this scene’s sculptural composition.
The Baltimore Museum of Art by purchase, 1958; M. Knoedler & Co., Inc., New York; Christie's, London, Viscount Harcourt sale, 6/11/1948, lot 158; Simon, first Earl Harcourt, 1755; Bragge, 1744; Cock, London, Rawdon and others sale, 1744, lot 56; Sir John Rawdon; Blackwood; Knapton (presumably the painter, George Knapton); (unidentified) Dr. Hickman, first half of the 18th century; possibly André Le Nôtre (d. 1700)
The Royal Academy, Burlington House, London, 'Old Masters Exhibition, 1883, cat. no. 181.
Dallas Museum of Art, 'Four Centuries of European Painting,' Oct. 6-31, 1951, cat. no. 55. [mis-titled 'Moses Sweetening the Waters of Meribah']
The Brooklyn Museum, 'Religious Painting 15th-19th Century,' Oct. 2-Nov. 13, 1956, cat. no. 22, ill.
Anthony Blunt, Toledo Museum of Art, 'Poussin Paintings in American Collections,' Jan. 4-Feb. 2, 1959, p. 6, fig. 6, p. 14, ill. pp. 24-25; circulated to Minneapolis Institute of Arts through Mar. 10, 1960.
Les Musées de France, Louvre, Paris, 'French Paintings of the 17th Century,' Apr. 1-June 11, 1961.
Gertrude Rosenthal, The Baltimore Museum of Art, 'From El Greco to Pollock: Early and Late Works by European and American Artists,' Oct. 22-Dec. 8, 1968, cat. no. 9, ill. p. 26.
Pierre Rosenberg, Grand Palais, Paris, 'Le Peinture française du XVIIe siècle dans les collections américaines,' Jan. 29-Apr. 26, 1982, cat. no. 27, p. 43; circulated to Metropolitan Museum of Art and Art Institute of Chicago through Nov. 1982. [English title, 'France in the Golden Age']
Dallas Museum of Art, 'Four Centuries of European Painting,' Oct. 6-31, 1951, cat. no. 55. [mis-titled 'Moses Sweetening the Waters of Meribah']
The Brooklyn Museum, 'Religious Painting 15th-19th Century,' Oct. 2-Nov. 13, 1956, cat. no. 22, ill.
Anthony Blunt, Toledo Museum of Art, 'Poussin Paintings in American Collections,' Jan. 4-Feb. 2, 1959, p. 6, fig. 6, p. 14, ill. pp. 24-25; circulated to Minneapolis Institute of Arts through Mar. 10, 1960.
Les Musées de France, Louvre, Paris, 'French Paintings of the 17th Century,' Apr. 1-June 11, 1961.
Gertrude Rosenthal, The Baltimore Museum of Art, 'From El Greco to Pollock: Early and Late Works by European and American Artists,' Oct. 22-Dec. 8, 1968, cat. no. 9, ill. p. 26.
Pierre Rosenberg, Grand Palais, Paris, 'Le Peinture française du XVIIe siècle dans les collections américaines,' Jan. 29-Apr. 26, 1982, cat. no. 27, p. 43; circulated to Metropolitan Museum of Art and Art Institute of Chicago through Nov. 1982. [English title, 'France in the Golden Age']
'Description of Nuneham-Courtnay,' London 1797, p. 32. Op cit, ed. of 1806, p. 20. Edward Wm. Harcourt (1825-1891), 'The Harcourt Papers,' Oxford: James Parker and Co., (n.d.), Vol. III, no. 15, p. 232. [Printed for private circulation, 50 copies; contains reference to a catalogue made by Horace Walpole and Sir Joshua Reynolds, printed 1806 by George Simon, Lord Harcourt]. G. F. Waagen, 'Galleries and Cabinets of Art in Great Britain,' (supple. and Vol. IV of 'Art Treasures in Britain'), London, 1857, letter VII, p. 349.
Otto Grautoff, 'Nicolas Poussin, sein Werk und sein Leben,' Munich: 1914, Vol I, pp. 79-80, 443, Vol. II, no. 12. Walter Friedlander, 'Sehr Poussinesk, aber nicht sicer,' Thieme-Becker, Kunstler Lexicon, vol XXVII. Hourticq, 'La Jeunesse de Poussin,' Paris: 1937, p. 217, ill. p. 267. Walter Friedlander, 'The Drawings of Nicholas Poussin,' London: Warburg Institute, 1939, pp. 12-13. T. Bertin-Mourot, 'Mosie Frappant le Rocher,' in 'Bulletin de la Societé de Poussin,' June 1947, p. 61. Louis Réau, 'Iconographie de l'Art Chrétien,' Paris: 1956, Vol. II, Part I, p. 200. William M. Milliken, 'Moses Sweetening the Waters of Marah,' 'BMA News,' Oct. 1958, p. 40. 'Museum of Art Makes Its Most Important Purchase,' Baltimore Sun,' Sunday, Oct. 12, 1958, p. 40. 'A Poussin Added to Jacobs Wing,' 'Baltimore Sun,' Sunday Nov. 23, 1958, A-28. 'Nicolas Poussin at Louvre,' 'Emporium,' Sept. 1960, Vol. 132, no. 789, ill. p. 101. Anthony Blunt, 'La Première Période Romaine de Poussin,' in 'Nicolas Poussin,' Paris: Editions du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 1960, Vol. I, p. 168, ill. fig. 136. J. Thuillier, 'Art de France,' Paris: 1961, p. 334, figs. 3 and 4. 'A Tribute to Adelyn D. Breeskin,' 'BMA News Quarterly,' Summer 1962, Vol. XXV, No. 4, ill. p. 21. Walter Friedlander, 'Poussin,' NY: 1964, p. 53. Anthony Blunt, 'The Paintings of Nicolas Poussin: A Critical Catalogue,' London: Phaidon, 1966, no. 28, pp. 22-23. K. R. Greenfield, 'The Museum: Its First Half Century,' 'BMA Annual I,' 1966, ill. p. 57. Doris Wild, 'Charles Mellin ou Nicholas Poussin,' 'Gazette des Beaux-Arts, 1966, LXVIII, p. 177. [questions authenticity of painting] 'Apollo,' Oct. 1968, ill. p. 305, pl. XX. Gertrude Rosenthal, 'New light on Poussin's 'Moses sweetening the bitter waters of Marah,'' in 'The Burlington Magazine,' Jan. 1984, pp. 24, 27, 28, ill. p. 25, no. 47, and p. 26, nos. 48 and 49. Pierre Rosenberg, 'France in the Golden Age: A Postscript,' in 'Metropolitan Museum Journal', no. 17, 1984, p. 43. Konrad Oberhuber, 'Poussin, The Early Years in Rome,' NY: Hudson Hills Press, 1988, no. 48, ill. p. 152, pp. 154-155, 161 [Kimbell Art Museum exhibition catalogue; BMA painting was not included in the exhibition]
Pierre Rosenberg, "Nicolas Poussin Les Tableaux de Louvre". Somagy Editions d'Art:France, 2015, fig. 39, pp, 102, ill.
Rosenthal, Gertrude, ed. From El Greco to Pollock: Early and Late Works by European and American Artists. Baltimore, MD: Baltimore Museum of Art, 1968, pp. 26, ill.
Inscribed: None
On View at the BMA
