Floris van Schooten - The Brazen Serpent
Floris van Schooten
The Brazen Serpent
Oil on panel. 28 x 36 cm.
Monogrammed on a stone in the lower centre: FVS.
Van Schooten was primarily known for his kitchen and market still lifes, but this canvas shows another side to his oeuvre. Although he integrated biblical motifs into the backgrounds of his still lifes, he has devoted this small-format panel entirely to the story of the brazen serpent, which is found in Numbers 21:6-9. The Old Testament story tells how God sent a plague of serpents to punish the Israelites for their impatience and ingratitude during the flight out of Egypt through the desert. “Therefore the people came to Moses and said, 'We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against thee. Pray unto the Lord, that He take away the serpents from us.' And Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said unto Moses, 'Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole. And it shall come to pass that every one who is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.' And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole; and it came to pass that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass he lived.”
Certificate
Dr. Dieter Beaujean, Berlin, 14.6.2012.
Provenance
German private collection.
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Floris van Schooten
The Brazen Serpent
Oil on panel. 28 x 36 cm.
Monogrammed on a stone in the lower centre: FVS.
Van Schooten was primarily known for his kitchen and market still lifes, but this canvas shows another side to his oeuvre. Although he integrated biblical motifs into the backgrounds of his still lifes, he has devoted this small-format panel entirely to the story of the brazen serpent, which is found in Numbers 21:6-9. The Old Testament story tells how God sent a plague of serpents to punish the Israelites for their impatience and ingratitude during the flight out of Egypt through the desert. “Therefore the people came to Moses and said, 'We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against thee. Pray unto the Lord, that He take away the serpents from us.' And Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said unto Moses, 'Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole. And it shall come to pass that every one who is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.' And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole; and it came to pass that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass he lived.”
Certificate
Dr. Dieter Beaujean, Berlin, 14.6.2012.
Provenance
German private collection.
Estimate
Time, Location
Auction House
