The Crossing of the Red Sea

Poussin painted this in Rome in the early 1630s for a wealthy patron in Turin, Amedeo dal Pozzo, who wanted a room decorated with scenes from the life of Moses. It shows the Israelites safe on the far shore of the Red Sea as the waters close over Pharaoh's army behind them. The picture had a twin. Its companion, The Adoration of the Golden Calf, took the very next episode of the story, the people slipping back into idolatry the moment Moses turns away. The two hung together as a pair for three centuries, passing through English collections side by side, until 1945, when they were finally separated. The Golden Calf went to the National Gallery in London, and this half of the pair traveled to Melbourne, where it hangs today.