Moses and Aaron before the Pharaoh

Johan Wierix · 1585
National Gallery of Art, Washington

Johan Wierix, of a family of engravers in Antwerp, cut this plate in 1585 after a design by the painter Maarten van Cleef. It is the second plate of a series on Moses in Egypt; its two lines of Latin verse are left out here.

Pharaoh sits on a high throne under a curtain, in armour, between great arches. A bearded man in a tall priest’s hat, probably Aaron, leans forward, and on the chequered floor his staff has become a coiling serpent. A small dog stops short in front of it.

From the text

Moses and Aaron going in to Pharaoh (Exodus 7:10)

Aaron’s staff becoming a serpent before Pharaoh and his officials (Exodus 7:10)

The wise men and magicians of Egypt called in (Exodus 7:11)

The river turned to blood, named in the print’s Latin verse (Exodus 7:20)

The artist’s own

Pharaoh as a crowned king in Roman-style armour

A Renaissance palace with arches, a tower and a dome

Aaron in a tall hat like a bishop’s mitre

A little dog startled by the serpent

Details

The serpent

A snake coils and rears up on the chequered floor.

Pharaoh

The crowned king sits on a high throne, in armour, one hand raised.

In a tall hat

A bearded man in a pointed priest’s hat leans towards the king — probably Aaron.

The dog

A small dog stops short in front of the snake.

Far away

Beyond the arch, tiny figures dig and carry baskets by the water.

Johan Wierix, Flemish, 1549–c. 1620, after Maarten van Cleef. National Gallery of Art, Washington (Gift of the Estate of Leo Steinberg, 2011.139.100) · Engraving on laid paper · NGA Open Access: "Images of these works are available free of charge for any use, commercial or non-commercial, under Creative Commons Zero (CC0)." (NGA open data: published_images.csv openaccess = 1)

The verses

Exod 7:8–12The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “When Pharaoh tells you, ‘Perform a miracle,’ you are to say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh,’ and it will become a serpent.” So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the LORD had commanded. Aaron threw his staff down before Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a serpent. But Pharaoh called the wise men and sorcerers and magicians of Egypt, and they also did the same things by their magic arts. Each one threw down his staff, and it became a serpent. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up the other staffs.

Exod 7:20–24Moses and Aaron did just as the LORD had commanded; in the presence of Pharaoh and his officials, Aaron raised the staff and struck the water of the Nile, and all the water was turned to blood. The fish in the Nile died, and the river smelled so bad that the Egyptians could not drink its water. And there was blood throughout the land of Egypt. But the magicians of Egypt did the same things by their magic arts. So Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said. Instead, Pharaoh turned around, went into his palace, and did not take any of this to heart. So all the Egyptians dug around the Nile for water to drink, because they could not drink the water from the river.