Charles Sprague Pearce based this work on a passage from the biblical Book of Exodus describing the tenth plague of Egypt, in which God declared his intention to kill every first-born Egyptian child unless Pharaoh freed the Israelites.He instructed Moses to tell the Jews to mark their doors, so that their children would be spared.Pearce paints the aftermath of this vengeful slaughter, as these distraught parents prepare their son for burial.Shawabtis—clay figurines traditionally buried with the dead to accompany the body to the afterlife—litter the floor.In the Victorian era, when infant mortality was still prevalent and many parents endured the loss of a child, Pearce’s Old Testament subject aroused all-too-modern feelings of grief.
- Title
-
Lamentations over the Death of the First-Born of Egypt
- Artist
- Date
- 1877
- Location
- Dimensions
- 38 1⁄2 x 51 1⁄2 in. (97.8 x 130.8 cm.)
- Credit Line
-
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Museum purchase
- Mediums
- Mediums Description
- oil on canvas
- Classifications
- Keywords
-
- History – ancient – Egypt
- State of being – emotion – sorrow
- Object Number
-
1985.28
- Palette
- Linked Open Data
- Linked Open Data URI
