| |
| click images below for alternate view |
| |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
The Finding of Baby Moses
Karen Ledbetter
(see more by this artist)
Here is Mr. Douglas L. Altman’s richly detailed, “ADAPTATION RENDERING” of the painting, The Finding of Baby Moses (1904), by Dutch-born, XIX century Victorian painter and illustrator, Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1836 – 1912). Laurens Tadema (later, he changed his name to the more English sounding, Lawrence), was born January, 1836, in a small village in Holland. He was the sixth child of Pieter Tadema, a notary. It is unclear when and why he affixed the name Alma to his last name; probably it was the name of his godfather. His parents wanted him to become a lawyer. Although Laurens was a good student, he always wanted to be an artist and, with great enthusiasm, he tried to pursue both courses of study. These overly exhaustive efforts caused such a significant decline in young Laurens’ health that his doctors even predicted he would die shortly. His mother decided to allow him to spend his remaining days doing what he enjoyed most, to draw & paint. Left to his own devices, he regained his physical and mental health and decided to pursue a career as an artist. This marked the beginning of a new period of his life. In 1851, he went to Antwerp in order to study early Dutch and Flemish art at the Royal Antwerp Academy. He left the Academy in 1856 and continued to study art; as well, Tadema took up the study of Germany’s, early France’s and Belgium’s histories. During the years 1859-1861, Alma-Tadema became a pupil of Henrik Leys, joining his studio in Antwerp. Then, in 1862, Alma-Tadema left Leys's studio and launched his own career. In the years, 1862-1870, Alma-Tadema’s so-called “Continental Period,” he established himself as a significant contemporary European artist. His main works were of a classical genre, dedicated to the ancient histories and mythologies of Egypt, Greece and Rome. In 1870, Alma-Tadema moved to England, where he was to spend the rest of his life. He became one of the most famous and highly paid artists of his time, widely acknowledged by his contemporaries and richly rewarded by his clientele. By 1871, he had met and befriended most of the major Pre-Raphaelite painters and it was in part due to their influence that the artist brightened his palette, varied his hues, and lightened his brushwork. He became particularly famous for his classical depictions of the luxury and decadence of the Roman Empire, with languorous figures set in fabulous marbled interiors or against a backdrop of dazzling blue Mediterranean sea and sky. Finally, in 1879, he was elected as a full member of the Royal Academy of Arts and in 1899, was knighted by Queen Victoria.
“The Finding of Moses,” in a vividly portrayed visual reconstruction of classical biblical history, descriptively tells us of the finding of the baby, Moses, who was placed in an ark of flowered bulrushes and set afloat in the Nile, in order to escape Pharaoh’s order to kill the Israelite first-born males. It is often said that Moses was found by Bithiah, the daughter of Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses I and sister of Pharaoh Seti I, who, in her compassion & pity, raised Moses as her own son. In Alma-Tadem’s richly conceived & detailed composition, we see a royal procession returning to Pharaoh’s Temple Complex, including the Pharoah’s daughter, accompanied by all her male & female attendants and carrying the bulrush basket holding the infant, Moses. When Moses leads the enslaved Israelites out of idolatrous Egypt, she joins the Exodus. The original painting, completed in 1904, after two years of steadfast effort by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, is currently housed in a private collection, after having been auctioned at Christies, NYC, New York, in May 1995, for £1.75 million & is described as “Oil on Canvas,” sized @ 54-1/4” x 84-7/8.”
Doug’s meticulously descriptive style, with his extensive use of rich oil colors and nearly invisible brushstrokes, demands absolute 3-dimensional accuracy in all his portraitures, as well as his paintings of mythological and historical events. Doug’s interpretation of Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema’s, The Finding of Moses, having taken more than twelve hundred hours to paint, takes on incredible 3-dimensionality due to Doug’s meticulously detailed application of shimmering, light & deep blue Lapis Lazuli, Gold & Silver Leaf & powdered metallics to Queen Bithiah’s and her female attendants’ jewelry and to the metal accoutrements of the elaborate Royal Palanquin, upon which the queen sits, being fanned by her male attendant. Additionally, the facial features, especially the eyes and the bald heads of the male retainers, have been rendered in significantly greater and more realistic detail. Doug has resized his “ADAPTATION RENDERING” in a very slightly different dimensional aspect to that of the original, @ 48” x 72.”
| Item |
Price |
|
 |
| The Finding of Baby Moses |
$125,000.00 |
sold |
|
|
|
Cart
