Study for Moses and the Burning Bush

Henry Ossawa Tanner, Study for Moses and the Burning Bush, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Jesse O. Tanner, 1983.95.207B
Copied Henry Ossawa Tanner, Study for Moses and the Burning Bush, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Jesse O. Tanner, 1983.95.207B
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Artwork Details

Title
Study for Moses and the Burning Bush
Artist
Location
Credit Line
Gift of Jesse O. Tanner
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on canvas
Classifications
Subjects
  • Portrait male — Moses
  • Religion — Old Testament — Moses
Object Number
1983.95.207B
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1983.95.207B

Artwork Description

Henry Ossawa Tanner drew inspiration for his art from both the New Testament and his upbringing in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. The Old Testament, however, did show up in some works, as in this study for Moses and the Burning Bush. In this painting an angel of God, in the form of a burning bush, calls on Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt to the Promised Land. On his second trip to the Middle East, Tanner visited the mountain range of the Sinai Peninsula, the site of this biblical episode.