He Shall Order the Lamps

Simeon Solomon

Wood engraving by the Dalziels [1862].

7 x 5½ inches

Alex Foley, Art Pictures from the Old Testament, p.92.

Leviticus, xxiv: 1–4. This image depicts Aaron and his sons filling the golden lamps with oil. Family life is as much the subject as the representation of ritual, and the effect is humane and lyrical. Solomon stresses the characters’ humanity, notably in the form of the arm placed by an older brother and his sibling’s shoulders, who in turn holds his brother around the waist. Solomon’s approach to the Old Testament as a human as much as a divine story is given particular emphasis in this intimate design.

Click on image to enlarge it.