The Finding of Moses

Sebastiano Ricci was born in the provincial town of Belluno to a family of artists. After receiving his training in Venice, he traveled widely and worked in London, Vienna, Bologna, Turin, and Paris. Ricci’s style developed under the influence of Venetian painter Paolo Veronese, and Ricci’s paintings are sometimes mistaken for works by Veronese. Often in trouble with the authorities over his amorous exploits and dangerous lifestyle, Ricci’s frequent scandals appear to have had little impact on his success as an artist.

The Finding of Moses is probably a pendant to Jephthah and His Daughter, also in the Brooks Kress Collection. The paintings were made around 1710 and demonstrate the influence that Veronese’s style exerted on Ricci’s work. His typically painterly style and luminous palette can be seen in the elaborate dresses and deep skin tones of the pharaoh’s daughter and her attendants. The artist developed a tight composition and the figures crowd the canvas with a taut triangular unity. With his light, elegant style, rich colors, and playful compositions, Ricci is often seen as one of the founders of the Rococo style.

The story of The Finding of Moses is included in Exodus 2:9, when Pharaoh’s daughter said to the woman: “Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will pay you your wages.” Ricci returned to the subject of the finding of Moses on several occasions. The fair color of the figures and their 18th-century clothes indicate that the artist did not seek historical accuracy.