A winged figure stands on the rock, seen from behind.
Bible in art · Judges
The Angel Rebukes Israel
Gustave Doré · 1866 (designs for La Sainte Bible, Tours); this printing 1873–1874
National Library of Poland, Warsaw
The engraver Laplante cut the sky of this plate as a burst of long straight rays falling through dark clouds. It is one of the plates of the Polish Doré Bible of 1873–1874, now in the National Library of Poland.
A tall winged figure stands on a rock with its back to us, one hand raised toward the light. Below on the plain a great crowd listens: some kneel, some bow to the ground, riders sit on their horses. The camp stretches away to the horizon.
From the text
- The angel of the LORD went up “from Gilgal to Bochim” (Judges 2:1)
- “the people lifted up their voices and wept” (Judges 2:4)
- They offered sacrifices there to the LORD (Judges 2:5)
The artist’s own
- The angel seen from behind, pointing to the sky
- Rays of light breaking through the clouds above the crowd
Details
The angel
The raised hand
One hand points up toward the light.
The rays
Long beams of light fall through the clouds.
The people
Many kneel and bow on the plain below.
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. 51 · 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.