2-720-272 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

'Moses "smote the rock twice, and the water came out abundantly"', 1840. Biblical scene, from Numbers 20: 11: 'And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also'. After being instructed to do so by God, Moses struck the rock with his staff and it split apart, providing water for the Israelites who were dying of thirst. Engraving after 'Moses Striking the Rock', a painting of 1649 by Nicolas Poussin, in the Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg, Russia.