A great column of smoke rises from the city.
Bible in art · Joshua
Joshua Burns the City of Ai
Gustave Doré · 1866 (designs for La Sainte Bible, Tours); this printing 1873–1874
National Library of Poland, Warsaw
Doré gives more than half of this plate to smoke: a huge black column rising from the city and spreading across the sky. The engraver’s name, Trichon, is at the bottom right.
On a hill in the foreground a group of riders, one in armor, watches the fire, while a man on foot with a spear speaks to them. Below, long lines of soldiers with spears move across the plain, and far off two armies meet near the burning walls.
From the text
- The men in ambush entered the city and “immediately set it on fire” (Joshua 8:19)
- “the smoke of the city was rising into the sky” (Joshua 8:20)
- Joshua held out his battle lance toward Ai (Joshua 8:18)
The artist’s own
- Joshua’s lance not shown held out: the riders simply watch
- Camels and horses with rich saddle cloths, and spears and round shields of Doré’s desert warriors
Details
The smoke
The burning city
Flames break out among the walls.
The riders
Men on horseback watch from the hill; one wears armor.
The battle
Two armies meet on the plain.
Gustave Doré, French, 1832–1883. National Library of Poland (Biblioteka Narodowa), Warsaw — «Pismo Święte Starego i Nowego Testamentu», vol. 1, Warsaw: M. Glücksberg, 1873 (acc. 75.267 A), tabl. 48 · Wood engraving after Gustave Doré’s design · National Library of Poland (Polona): the record of the volume gives the licence «Domena Publiczna» (Public Domain), «copyrightProtected»: false; the scan was uploaded to Wikimedia Commons by the library itself («Polona Upload», GLAM-Wiki partnership: “This file was uploaded to Wikimedia Commons as part of a GLAM-Wiki partnership between the National Library of Poland and Wikimedia Polska”), linking its Polona record.