Moses Leaving for Egypt

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Moses Leaving for Egypt (Perugino)
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Moses Leaving for Egypt
ArtistPietro Perugino and his workshop
Yearc. 1482
TypeFresco
Dimensions350 cm × 572 cm (140 in × 225 in)
LocationSistine Chapel, Rome

Moses Leaving for Egypt is a fresco by the Italian Renaissance painter Pietro Perugino and his workshop, executed around 1482 and located in the Sistine Chapel, Rome. It depicts a journey by the prophet Moses.

History

The commission of the work originated in 1480, when Perugino was decorating a chapel in the Old St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Pope Sixtus IV was pleased by his work, and decided to commission him also the decoration of the new Chapel he had built in the Vatican Palace. Due to the size of the work, Perugino was later joined by a group of painters from Florence, including Botticelli, Ghirlandaio and others.

Detail.

Perugino's assistants in the Sistine Chapel included

Andrea d'Assisi, Rocco Zoppo or, less likely, Lo Spagna or Bartolomeo della Gatta
, other Perugino's collaborators of the time.

Description

The fresco depicting the voyage of

Baptism of Christ
on the opposite wall.

The painting shows Moses (dressing in yellow and green as in the other frescoes of the cycle) leaving for Egypt, after he had been exiled from

Augustine, as a kind of "spiritual circumcision". The ceremony is on the right, and includes Zipporah.[2]

In the right background

Botticelli
.

References

  1. ^ Todini, Filippo (1989). La Pittura Umbra.
  2. ^ Harwood, Edith (1907). Notable pictures in Rome. J.M. Dent. p. 6.

Sources

  • Garibaldi, Vittoria (2004). "Perugino". Pittori del Rinascimento. Florence: Scala.