Men on camels with tall lances lead the column.
Bible in art · Joshua
The Israelites Cross the Jordan
Gustave Doré · 1866 (designs for La Sainte Bible, Tours); this printing 1873–1874
National Library of Poland, Warsaw
A wide plate in Doré’s quietest manner, engraved by Laplante: a pale strip of sky over a dark river and a long column of people, all cut in fine horizontal lines.
Warriors with spears and round shields walk down into the water; riders on camels lead the way, their lances standing up against the light. The column stretches far across the river toward a low bank with a few palm trees on the other side.
From the text
- “the priests carried the ark of the covenant ahead of them” (Joshua 3:14)
- “the flowing water stood still” (Joshua 3:16)
- “all Israel crossed over the dry ground” (Joshua 3:17)
The artist’s own
- No ark and no priests can be seen
- Men wading through water, not crossing dry ground
- Camels, spears and round shields of Doré’s own picture of desert warriors
Details
Riders
The column
A long line of people walks out into the river.
A shield
A warrior carries a round shield.
The far bank
Palm trees on the low bank across the river.
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. 44 · 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.