Pharaoh’s Army
The Church Council commissioned this painting by David Colijns for their meeting space in the Oude Kerk in 1625. It depicts a scene from Exodus 14:26-31, when the Pharaoh’s army is engulfed by the Red Sea. To the left stand Moses and the people of Israel, safe on the far shore. Many members of the Oude Kerk’s Church Council were refugees from the Southern Netherlands who had fled to the north in search of safety. These people in particular identified themselves with the scene of Moses and the Israelites, because in a similar manner they had left everything behind and been forced to flee.
Colijns (1582-1665) came from a family of artists from Mechelen and was still relatively unknown in 1625. The Church Council paid 36 guilders for the work, a bargain for a painting of such dimensions.
|
Period
|
17th century
|
|
Dimensions
|
Met lijst: h. 101,5 cm, b. 225 cm
|
|
Location
|
Kerkmeesterskamer
|
|
Number of parts
|
1
|
