Description:
Framed oil on canvas painting by Erastus Salisbury Field (1805-1900) of Sunderland, MA of the Plague of Darkness. The painting is very dark; there are Egyptian-style buildings and colonaded structures in the background on the right, in the foreground men and women search the darkness trying to find their way, many have their arms outstretched or placed above their heads, the figures hold lanterns and torchs. The plague of darkness (Exodus 10:21–23) was the ninth of ten plagues sent as a judgment by God against Egypt for not releasing the Israelites from slavery. The darkness was "thick" and "could be felt". For three days, no Egyptian could see another person, nor could they get up from their place. A spiritual and political challenge: The plague was a direct assault on the Egyptian sun god, Ra, one of their most powerful deities. By extinguishing the sun, the God of Israel demonstrated his ultimate authority over the Egyptian pantheon. painting bears paper labels on verso, American Folk Art Gallery, New York and Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield Mass. Condition: wax lined; replaced stretcher; replaced frame; generally fluoresces green; with some scattered retouching throughout, but largely to sky and some to buildings; some occasional surface scuffs, and a small area of loss to surface along left-facing edge; possible repaired tear mid canvas, above paintings
Label Text:
Detailed in the Book of Exodus, the plague of darkness was the ninth of ten plagues sent as a judgment by God against Egypt for not releasing the Israelites from slavery. Between 1865 and 1880 the deeply religious and passionately anti-slavery Erastus Salisbury Field depicted The Plagues of Egypt in a series of large canvases intended for display in the North Congregational Church of North Amherst, Massachusetts.
The "plague of darkness" involved a period of total darkness that lasted for three days, during which no one could see anyone else, according to the book of Exodus. The plague was a manifestation of God's power and a punishment for Pharaoh's refusal to release the Israelites.
Tags:
biblical; religion; antislavery movements Link to share this object record:
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