Ruth and Naomi

Simeon Solomon

Wood engraving by the Dalziels [1862].

6½ x 4¾ inches

Alex Foley, Art Pictures from the Old Testament, p.140.

Ruth i: 16. A dramatic moment, illustrating the lines, as simplified by Alex Foley, ‘Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.’ The illustration draws a sharp contrast between the figures while effectively conveying the bareness of the impoverished land: a background quite unlike the lush vegetation in most of Solomon’s designs.

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