Lot 1502 Dα

The reappearance of “The Finding of Moses“ on the art market represents the rediscovery of a long-lost composition that was much celebrated in its time. Born in Eeklo, Joseph Geirnaert begun his training in Ghent at the age of sixteen. After a short apprenticeship in Ghent and Antwerp, he began exhibiting religious and genre paintings in the reputed Flemish Salons in 1817. He discovered the Neoclassical style of Jacques-Louis David, was still working successfully in Brussels at the time, while attending the workshop of Joseph Paelink in Ghent. In 1818 he was awarded a “First Prize” from the city of Brussels for his painting “The Return of the Officer”, which was heavily influenced by David's style (Brussels, Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Belgium, inv. 428). The local chronicles relate that he had been highly celebrated at this occasion by the city of Eeklo, his birth town.
In 1819 he executed “Phaedra and Hippolitus” (Barnard Castle, Bowes Museum, inv. BM 819), “Joseph's Chastity” (location unknown) and the present rediscovered picture. These were his last three Neoclassical compositions before he devoted himself entirely to the art of portraiture and the Romantic style, which had then become more fashionable.
The “Finding of Moses” fits perfectly with the standards and norms of Classical art, although the subject derives from the Old Testament (Exodus, 2:3-6). Like the work in the Bowes Museum, the elegant figures in this piece are also dressed in the classical manner. They are depicted before an Italianate landscape with an expansive ancient city in the background. A subtle light illuminates the whole scene, and the drapery is rendered in vivid colours. The women's faces are softly modelled, with two of them shown in stark profile, akin to a Renaissance medallion.