The Submersion of Pharaoh's Army in the Red Sea
This composition is made up of 12 separately printed woodcuts to create one image in grand scale. The size rivals that of a history painting, and, unlike most prints, the composition would have been hung on the wall. This is confirmed by the lack of complete impressions from the date of the print's creation—around 1515. This and all extant impressions date from a later edition, published in 1549 by the publisher Domenico dalle Greche (Italian, active 1543–1558). The woodcut is based on a drawing by the Venetian master Titian, and the bold, expressive, and irregular marks of the woodcutter i...
Details
- Palette
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- Medium
- woodcut
- Dimensions
- unframed: height 0.4 m, width 0.55 m
- Origin
- Italy, Venice
- Department
- Prints
- Holding institution
- Cleveland Museum of Art
- Image provider
- cleveland-museum-of-art
- License
- CC0-1.0
- Credit
- John L. Severance Fund
Art Genome Taxonomy
11 tags
Subject Matter
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Bible Story Both · 99%
The Cleveland Museum of Art identifies the subject as the Israelites’ persecution and the fate of Pharaoh’s army in the Red Sea; the image presents a large biblical narrative involving armed figures, groups of people, and turbulent water.
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Conflict Both · 96%
The catalog describes persecution and the destruction of an army, while the image shows armed soldiers, pursuit, panic, submersion, and overturned equipment.
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Crowds Both · 95%
Numerous tightly grouped figures occupy the left, right, and lower sections of the composition, corresponding to the armies and gathered survivors described in the catalog.
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Landscapes and Waterscapes Both · 98%
Water, shoreline, clouds, distant architecture, and a prominent rocky cliff dominate the setting; the museum description specifically emphasizes the turbulent sea and overhanging cliff.
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Movement Visual · 95%
The rolling waves, falling and submerged bodies, horses, flags, and directional contours produce a pronounced sense of kinetic action.
Visual Qualities
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Dense Composition Visual · 94%
The assembled image contains extensive detail and very little unmarked space in the populated lower and side sections.
Medium and Techniques
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Woodcut and Linocut Both · 99%
The metadata identifies the work as a woodcut, and the image visibly uses the dense incised linear marks characteristic of relief printing.
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Prints Both · 99%
The museum classifies the object as a Print/Prints, and the image is visibly assembled from separately printed sheets.
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Hatching Visual · 98%
Parallel, crosshatched, and curved lines densely model the clouds, waves, rock, figures, armor, and animals.
Time Periods
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16th Century Art Metadata · 99%
The catalog dates the composition to 1514–15 and records the extant edition as printed in 1549.
Geographic Regions
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Italian Art Metadata · 98%
The work’s place of origin is recorded as Italy, Venice; the catalog identifies Titian and Domenico dalle Greche as Italian.
Source & rights
Titian (Italian, c. 1488–1576). The Submersion of Pharaoh's Army in the Red Sea. Cleveland Museum of Art.