The J. Paul Getty Museum

Moses and the Messengers from Canaan

Object Details

Title:

Moses and the Messengers from Canaan

Artist/Maker:

Giovanni Lanfranco (Italian, 1582 - 1647)

Culture:

Italian

Date:

1621–1624

Medium:

Oil on canvas

Object Number:

69.PA.4

Dimensions:

219.7 × 249.6 cm (86 1/2 × 98 1/4 in.)

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Object Description

Giovanni Lanfranco conceived this painting as part of a series executed for the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament in the Basilica of San Paolo fuori le Mura (Saint Paul Outside the Walls) in Rome. Lanfranco depicts the imposing figures as if seen from below, imbuing them with a sense of monumentality and facilitating the painting’s placement high on the chapel walls.

In the Old Testament (Numbers 13:1–27), Moses sent spies to Canaan—the Promised Land—to determine whether the land bore fruit. Lanfranco depicted these spies as they returned, laden with grapes, pomegranates, and figs as signs of the bounty of Canaan. Laying the ample harvest at Moses' feet, they reported, “surely it floweth with milk and honey.” In Catholic theology, the plentiful grapes of the Promised Land prefigured the wine of Communion, making it an appropriate subject for the large Sacrament Chapel. A second example from this series dedicated to Eucharistic themes exists in the Getty’s collection: Elijah Receiving Bread from the Widow of Zarephath.

Provenance
Provenance
by 1624 - by 1763

San Paolo fuori le Mura (Rome, Italy), commissioned from the artist, 1621; in Cappella del Sacramento until about 1660-68; then moved to sacristy; later to refectory; moved to Convento di San Callisto by 1763.

by 1763 -

Convento di San Callisto (Rome, Italy)

about 1803/1806 - 1839

Cardinal Joseph Fesch, 1763 - 1839 (Paris, France; Rome, Italy), upon his death, held in trust by his estate.

1839 - 1843

Estate of Cardinal Joseph Fesch, 1763 - 1839 [sold, Fesch sale, George, Rome, April 17, 1843, to Alessandro Aducci.]

1843 - still in 1855

Alessandro Aducci (Rome, Italy)

by 1939 - 1956

Algernon William John Clotworthy Skeffington, 12th viscount Massereene and 5th viscount Ferrard, died 1956 (Knock, Isle of Mull, Scotland), by inheritance to John Clotworthy Talbot Foster Whyte-Melville Skeffington, 1956.

1956 - 1968

John Clotworthy Talbot Foster Whyte-Melville-Skeffington, 13th viscount Massereene and 6th viscount Ferrard, 1914 - 1992 (Knock, Isle of Mull, Scotland) [sold, Massereene sale, Christie's, London, March 29, 1968, lot 71, to Julius Weitzner, London, who frequently collaborated with Hallsborough Gallery.]

1968 - 1969

Hallsborough Gallery (London, England; New York, New York), sold to the J. Paul Getty Museum, 1969.

Exhibitions
Exhibitions
Paintings from the Sacrament Chapel of S. Paul's-without-the-Walls, Rome (1968)
  • National Gallery of Ireland (Dublin), 1968
The J. Paul Getty Collection (June 29 to September 3, 1972)
  • The Minneapolis Institute of Art (Minneapolis), June 29 to September 3, 1972
Bernini scultore e la nascita del Barocco in Casa Borghese (May 15 to September 20, 1998)
  • Museo e Galleria Borghese (Rome), May 15 to September 20, 1998
Giovanni Lanfranco (1582-1647): Un pittore fra Parma, Roma e Napoli (September 1, 2001 to June 16, 2002)
  • Reggia di Colorno (Parma), September 1 to December 2, 2001
  • Castel Sant'Elmo (Naples), December 21, 2001 to February 24, 2002
  • Museo Nazionale di Palazzo Venezia (Rome), March 16 to June 16, 2002
Captured Emotions: Baroque Painting in Bologna, 1575-1725 (December 16, 2008 to May 3, 2009)
  • The J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center (Los Angeles), December 16, 2008 to May 3, 2009
Bibliography
Bibliography

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Franzini, Federico, ed. Roma antica e moderna nella quale si contengono chiese, monasterij, hospedali, compagnie [...] (Rome: Per il successore al Mascardi, 1668), p. 21.

Bellori, Giovanni Pietro. Le vite de' pittori, scultori et architetti moderni (Rome: Mascardi, 1672; repr., Bologna: Arnaldo Forni Editore, 1977), pp. 373-74.

Rossini, Pietro. Il Mercurio errante. Parte terza: Delle antichità di Roma quali di presente si vedono (Rome: per Giovanni Molo, 1693), p. 144.

Catalogue des tableaux composant la galerie de feu son Eminence le Cardinal Fesch (Rome: Imprimerie de Joseph Salviucci et Fils, 1841), p. 21, no. 420.

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La Penta, Barbara Luigia. "Giovanni Lanfranco: La decorazione della Cappella del Sacramento a San Paolo." Bollettino d'arte, 4th ser., 48, nos. 1-2 (January-June 1963), pp. 56-62.

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