Joshua Commanding the Sun and Moon to Stand Still

Joshua Commanding the Sun and Moon to Stand Still
Joshua Commanding the Sun and Moon to Stand Still

Joshua Commanding the Sun and Moon to Stand Still

Date1907
Artist (American artist and illustrator, 1879–1960)
Illustration CitationStories from the Old Testament for Children, by Harriet Blaine Beale (New York: Duffield and Company, 1907)
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions30 x 20 in. (76.2 x 50.8 cm)
frame: 31 1/2 x 21 1/2 in. (80 x 54.6 cm)
Credit LineGayle and Alene Hoskins Endowment Fund, 1988
Object number1988-84
On View
Not on view
ClassificationsPAINTING
Label TextBorn in Quincy, Illinois, E. Roscoe Shrader attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago between 1901 and 1904 and then studied for two years with Howard Pyle in Wilmington, Delaware. For several years, he was a successful illustrator for books and magazines. Around 1914, Shrader became a member of the New Hope (PA) group of impressionists; in 1917, he moved to Los Angeles, where he remained as a leader in the art scene.

Here Shrader depicts Joshua leading troops to the battle of Gibeon. He points to the sun, which he miraculously causes to remain shining so that his army could continue fighting.