Bible in art · Exodus

The Crossing of the Red Sea; The Egyptians Engulfed (Ms. 33, fol. 77v, from the Weltchronik)

Unknown painter, Regensburg · about 1400–1410
Getty Center, Los Angeles

A page of the Regensburg Weltchronik, about 1400–1410. The painter split the picture into two bands to tell what happened on each side of the water.

Above, the Israelites stand safe on the shore in long robes, Moses with his staff among them and a golden pillar behind. Below, a mass of Egyptian soldiers in grey armour sinks under the red sea.

From the text

The Israelites cross on dry ground (Exodus 14:22)
The waters cover Pharaoh’s army (Exodus 14:28)
The pillar that went with Israel (Exodus 14:19)

The artist’s own

The sea painted red, after its name
The Egyptians in the plate armour of about 1400

Details

The Israelites

Men and women crowd the shore, pointing back.

Moses

An old man with a staff stands at the right of the group.

The pillar

A golden column stands on the hill.

The army

Helmets, spears and armour sink in the water.

Unknown illuminator, Regensburg; text by Rudolf von Ems (Austrian, about 1200–1254). The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles (Ms. 33 (88.MP.70), fol. 77v) · Tempera colors, gold, silver paint, and ink · Images provided here are believed to be in the public domain and are available under CC0 through Getty’s Open Content Program. (Getty record: "No Copyright", http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)

The verses

Exod 14:21–31Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the LORD drove back the sea with a strong east wind that turned it into dry land. So the waters were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with walls of water on their right and on their left. And the Egyptians chased after them—all Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and horsemen—and followed them into the sea. At morning watch, however, the LORD looked down on the army of the Egyptians from the pillar of fire and cloud, and He threw their camp into confusion. He caused their chariot wheels to wobble, so that they had difficulty driving. “Let us flee from the Israelites,” said the Egyptians, “for the LORD is fighting for them against Egypt!” Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen.” So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea returned to its normal state. As the Egyptians were retreating, the LORD swept them into the sea. The waters flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen—the entire army of Pharaoh that had chased the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived. But the Israelites had walked through the sea on dry ground, with walls of water on their right and on their left. That day the LORD saved Israel from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the shore. When Israel saw the great power that the LORD had exercised over the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD and believed in Him and in His servant Moses.

See it at the museum’s site