''The Finding of Moses'' is an early 1630s painting by

Orazio Gentileschi Orazio Lomi Gentileschi (1563–1639) was an Italian painter. Born in Tuscany, he began his career in Rome, painting in a Mannerist style, much of his work consisting of painting the figures within the decorative schemes of other artists. After ...

. There are two versions, the

prime version In the art world, if an artwork exists in several versions, the one known or believed to be the earliest is called the prime version. Many artworks produced in media such as painting or carved sculpture which create unique objects are in fact re ...

is in

The National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director of ...

in London and the second is in

Museo del Prado The Prado Museum ( ; ), officially known as Museo Nacional del Prado, is the main Spanish national art museum, located in central Madrid. It is widely considered to house one of the world's finest collections of European art, dating from the ...

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

London version

This version was bought by a private collection in 1995 and went on long term loan to the National Gallery in 2002. After a loan of nearly 20 years the Gallery succeeded in purchasing the work for £22 Million in December 2019. Commissioned by

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

for his wife

Henrietta Maria Henrietta Maria (french: link=no, Henriette Marie; 25 November 1609 – 10 September 1669) was Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland from her marriage to King Charles I on 13 June 1625 until Charles was executed on 30 January 1649. She wa ...

to celebrate the birth of their son and heir Charles II, it was painted for the

Queen's House Queen's House is a former royal residence built between 1616 and 1635 near Greenwich Palace, a few miles down-river from the City of London and now in the London Borough of Greenwich. It presently forms a central focus of what is now the Old Ro ...

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...

. Upon completion it was hung in the Great Hall, opposite the 1628 version of ''

Lot and His Daughters Lot (; he, לוֹט ''Lōṭ'', lit. "veil" or "covering"; gr, Λώτ ''Lṓt''; ar, لُوط ''Lūṭ''; Syriac language, Syriac: ܠܘܛ ''Lōṭ'') was a man in the biblical Book of Genesis, chapters 11–14 and 19. Notable events in his li ...

''. After Charles’ execution it was returned to his widow in France in 1660. By the time it entered the

Orleans Collection The Orleans Collection was a very important collection of over 500 paintings formed by Philippe d'Orléans, Duke of Orléans, mostly acquired between about 1700 and his death in 1723. Apart from the great royal-become-national collections of Euro ...

a half-century later, it was regarded as by Velázquez. It then entered the

Castle Howard Castle Howard is a stately home in North Yorkshire, England, within the civil parish of Henderskelfe, located north of York. It is a private residence and has been the home of the Carlisle branch of the Howard family for more than 300 years. ...

collection, and was only correctly identified after the existence of Gentileschi's second version in the

Prado The Prado Museum ( ; ), officially known as Museo Nacional del Prado, is the main Spanish national art museum An art museum or art gallery is a building or space for the display of art, usually from the museum's own collection. It migh ...

became known in England.

Madrid version

Moisés salvado de las aguas (Orazio Gentileschi)

The version now in the

in Madrid was painted in 1633. It is thought to be an autograph copy after his earlier version of the subject in London. The artist produced it for

Philip IV of Spain Philip IV ( es, Felipe, pt, Filipe; 8 April 160517 September 1665), also called the Planet King (Spanish: ''Rey Planeta''), was King of Spain from 1621 to his death and (as Philip III) King of Portugal from 1621 to 1640. Philip is remembered f ...

and sent it to him as a gift in summer 1633. It was delivered personally to Philip in Madrid by the artist's son

Francesco Francesco, the Italian (and original) version of the personal name " Francis", is the most common given name among males in Italy. Notable persons with that name include: People with the given name Francesco * Francesco I (disambiguation), sev ...

.Catalogue Entry
/ref> In October that year Arthur Hopton (English ambassador to Spain) wrote that the painting had been hung in the Salón Nuevo in the

Royal Alcázar of Madrid The Royal Alcázar of Madrid (Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisi ...

. Finaldi, G.: ''100 Obras Maestras del Museo del Prado'', Museo Nacional del Prado, 2008, p. 106. Pleased with the picture, Philip authorised the payment of 900 ducats to the artist. The Madrid version is slightly smaller and the nudity has been softened.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Finding of Moses, The Gentileschi category:1630s paintings category:Paintings by Orazio Gentileschi Paintings of the Museo del Prado by Italian artists