Detail of The Finding of Moses by Tintoretto in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, September 2021

The Finding of Moses
1560s?

Jacopo Tintoretto (Jacopo Robusti) Italian


Object Details

Title: The Finding of Moses

Artist: Jacopo Tintoretto (Jacopo Robusti) (Italian, Venice 1518/19–1594 Venice)

Date: 1560s?

Medium: Oil on canvas

Dimensions: 30 1/2 x 52 3/4 in. (77.5 x 134 cm)

Classification: Paintings

Credit Line: Gwynne Andrews Fund, 1939

Accession Number: 39.55


The biblical story of the Finding of Moses was popular in Venice. Tintoretto gives it an unusual twist by showing Pharaoh’s daughter watching as a nurse is found for the baby (actually his own mother), rather than the more typical discovery of the baby in the bulrushes. The meaning of the hunting scenes in the background remains mysterious. The proportions of the figures and the painting’s sketchy quality have led some critics to suggest that it might be by Jacopo’s son, Domenico.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/437820