Art Institute of Chicago

The Submersion of Pharaoh's Army in the Red Sea

After Titian (Italian, c. 1488-1576)

Date

c. 1515, printed 1549

Medium

Woodcut in black on ivory laid paper

Culture

Italy

Department

Prints and Drawings

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

The grand scale of Titian’s twelve-sheet woodcut (see 1957.12.1–12) mimics history paintings and large wall hangings. The assembled composition would fit only on a massive wall, a use confirmed by the total lack of early impressions. Only this 1549 state is known, printed from woodblocks studded with wormholes, which appear in the image as tiny white dots. The inscription at lower center of The Submersion describes the Israelites’ persecution under the Egyptian pharaoh and his army’s fate when they followed Moses into the Red Sea. The publisher opportunistically refers to the “great and immortal hand” of Titian in this legend, though the artist was still very much alive.

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