The Finding of Moses

Veronese tells an old story in modern dress. The scene is from Exodus, Pharaoh's daughter finding the baby Moses hidden in a basket among the reeds of the Nile, but everyone in it is dressed as if for a Venetian court of the 1580s, in shot silk and pearls, with a small dog underfoot. Veronese liked this subject and painted it more than once. He never worried about Egyptian accuracy; the point was the wealth and grace of his own Venice, transplanted onto a Bible page. This small, jewel-like version later hung in the collection of Louis XIV of France. In 1803 the state sent it out to Lyon, to help stock a new public museum in the provinces, where it hangs today.