The Mother of Moses
Date1860 (first exhibited 1860; undated)
Artist
Simeon Solomon
(British painter, 1840–1905)
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions24 × 19 7/8 in. (61 × 50.5 cm)
frame: 36 5/8 × 32 × 2 1/4 in. (93 × 81.3 × 5.7 cm)
frame: 36 5/8 × 32 × 2 1/4 in. (93 × 81.3 × 5.7 cm)
Credit LineBequest of Robert Louis Isaacson, 1999
Object number1999-1
On View
Not on viewCollections
ClassificationsPAINTING
Label TextSolomon was an important if unusual figure in the Victorian period. Jewish by descent, he was born into a family of painters. He often painted Old Testament subjects such as this one, taken from the life of Moses. Solomon has chosen an intimate moment, his mother shown caressing her child for the last time before she places him in the basket and sends him down the river to his destiny. 
