Tissot: The Exodus from Egypt, Moses striking the rock, around 1600-32

Van Balen was a leading artist in Antwerp during the early 1600s. In the Old Testament Book of Exodus, the Israelites escaped slavery in Egypt and fled into the wilderness. There Moses struck a rock, producing a miraculous spring of water which quenched their thirst. The story resonates with contemporary concerns about the preciousness of fresh water and the mass migration of people.

Bequeathed by Ian Mylles with Art Fund support, 2021