Moses and Aaron before Pharaoh

Edward Poynter

Wood engraving by the Dalziels.

8 x 7 inches

Dalziels’ Bible Gallery, plate 27

Exodus vii:10–13. A dramatic representation of the scene when Moses and Aaron try to persuade Pharaoh to allow the Israelites to make sacrifices in the wilderness. The rods have been changed into serpents, which menacingly move towards the picture-plane and into the viewers’ space; the physical immediacy of the foreground is contrasted with the centre ground, where Moses pleads his case in vain.

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