The Death of the First Born and Release of the Israelites. Artist: Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld. Engraver: unknown. Source: Die Bibel in Bildern, Plate 50. Click on image to enlarge it.
And he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Rise up, and get you forth from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel; and go, serve the LORD, as ye have said. Also take your flocks and your herds, as ye have said, and be gone; and bless me also. And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste; for they said, We be all dead men. [Exodus 12: 31-33; King James Bible.]
Moses and Aaron receive permission for the Israelites to leave Egypt and Egyptian slavery from Pharaoh amidst a scene of general carnage. The eldest son of a member of the court lies dead in the right foreground, and we also see next to him a dead dog while a young men in a dungeon also lies dead as the Angel of Death (which Schnorr included an earlier illustration) flies across the top of the picture. In the middle distance we see parents wailing over their dead children.
Related material
- The Origin of the Pascal [or Easter] Lamb
- The Forced Labor and Suffering of the Israelites in Egypt
- Finding Moses
You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the Hathi Digital Trust Library and the Columbia University Library and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.
Bibliography
Die Bibel in Bildern [Picture Bible] von Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld. Leipzig: Georg Wigands, 1860. Hathi Digital Trust Library online version of a copy in the Columbia University Library. Web. 25 June 2016. — George P. Landow.
Last modified 28 June 2016