Scuola Grande San Rocco Venice - Tintoretto “Moses Gushing Water from the Rock” and “The Gathering of Manna”

Tintoretto “Moses Gushing Water from the Rock”

Oil on Canvas (550 x 520 cm) 1577

Moses Gushing Water This work immediately followed The Miracle of the Bronze Serpent, illustrating one of the most famous episodes of The Exodus (chapter 17), which takes place in the desert at the foot of Sinai.

There is no water and the people are thirsty.

Following the recommendation of Yahweh, Moses strikes the rock with his staff.

The staff by which he had already performed prodigies in Egypt.

And behold, a veritable torrent of water gushed forth from the rock, at the foot of which the thirsty people crowded, holding out vessels to collect the precious liquid.

Moses gushing water Yahweh, in the cloud, assists Moses who stands in full light, striking the rock with a sure hand.

The strength of his arm, raising God's staff high, also supports the Hebrews in their battle against Amaleq Behind him, we see a battle scene under the light.

Moses is the central pillar that always draws the eye back to him.

His silhouette and attitude are virtually the same as those of Jesus from The Ascension, painted ten years later.

According to the art critic Perocco, the water coming violently out of the rock is a prefiguration of Grace.

Tintoretto “The Gathering of Manna”

Oil on Canvas (550 x 520 cm) 1577

Tintoretto, The Gathering of the Manna, Scuola Grande San Rocco in Venice

The Gathering of the Manna Another highlight from Exodus (chapter 16), where the people run out of food during the crossing of the desert of Sîn and regret having left such opulent Egypt.

Yahweh intervenes with Moses, promising to provide quail that evening, and to give them their daily bread:

4 “Behold, I will rain bread for you from heaven. The people will go out and gather daily what they need for the day. for the day.”

13 “Now in the evening the quails came up and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp.

When the layer of dew had risen, behold, on the surface of the desert there was something small, granular, small like frost, on the earth.

When the sons of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “Mân hou?” (what is this?) For they did not know what it was.”

The Gathering of the Manna Manna is the bread of Yahweh.

The Tintoretto depicted it in the form of white hosts falling from heaven, where Yahweh can be seen leaning towards the people who have stretched out a large tablecloth to collect them.

Beneath this sheet, men lay on the ground beside their cattle, their faces turned towards the sky.

All the others are gathering the manna, or holding out their baskets to the sky.

In the foreground, the man raising his basket on the left and Moses pointing to the manna on the right guide our gaze and involve us in the scene: we look up again to the manna... which falls from heaven where Yahweh is.