Old Masters · Exodus 14:22 · 4 October 2026 · 3 works

The Exodus from Egypt

And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.

From the departure out of Egypt to the far shore of the sea, in three paintings.

Roberts had not yet been to Egypt when he painted this; he travelled there ten years later. He builds an endless city of colonnades, and through it the people move out in a stream that has no end either.

David Roberts, The Israelites Leaving Egypt, 1828 — **David Roberts**, The Israelites Leaving Egypt, 1828

Bronzino painted this wall for the private chapel of Eleonora of Toledo. The Israelites in the foreground have already arrived and rest like antique statues; behind them the sea closes over Pharaoh's army.

Agnolo Bronzino, The Crossing of the Red Sea, 1541–42 — **Agnolo Bronzino**, The Crossing of the Red Sea, 1541–42

Poussin shows the moment after. The people stand on the shore; some give thanks, others pull the armour of the drowned out of the water. Moses stretches out his hand over the sea.

Nicolas Poussin, The Crossing of the Red Sea, c. 1633–34 — **Nicolas Poussin**, The Crossing of the Red Sea, c. 1633–34