Angelo Caroselli, 'The Plague at Ashdod (after Poussin)', 1631
About the work
Overview
This dramatic scene of divine punishment is described in the Old Testament. The Philistines are stricken with plague in their city of Ashdod because they have stolen the Ark of the Covenant from the Israelites and placed it in their pagan temple. You can see the decorated golden casket of the Ark between the pillars of the temple. People look around in horror at their dead and dying companions. One man leans over the corpses of his wife and child and covers his nose to avoid the stench. Rats scurry towards the bodies. The broken statue of their deity, Dagon, and the tumbled down stone column further convey the Philistines' downfall.
This picture is a copy by the Italian artist Angelo Caroselli of an original work by Nicolas Poussin, in the Louvre, Paris.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- The Plague at Ashdod (after Poussin)
- Artist
- Angelo Caroselli
- Artist dates
- 1585 - 1652
- Date made
- 1631
- Medium and support
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 129 × 204.5 cm
- Acquisition credit
- Presented by the Duke of Northumberland, 1838
- Inventory number
- NG165
- Location
- Not on display
- Collection
- Main Collection
- Previous owners
Provenance
Additional information
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Humphrey Wine, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Seventeenth Century French Paintings’, London 2001; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Exhibition history
-
2010Close Examination: Fakes, Mistakes and DiscoveriesThe National Gallery (London)30 June 2010 - 12 September 2010
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2014Art and Alchemy: The Mystery of TransformationMuseum Kunstpalast4 April 2014 - 10 August 2014
Bibliography
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1914O. Grautoff, Nicolas Poussin: Sein Werk und sein Leben, Munich 1914
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1946Martin Davies, National Gallery Catalogues: French School, London 1946
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1950J. Costello, 'The Twelve Pictures "Ordered by Velasquez" and the Trial of Valguarnera', Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, XIII, 1950, pp. 237-84
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1957Martin Davies, National Gallery Catalogues: French School, 2nd edn (revised), London 1957
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1966A. Blunt, The Paintings of Nicolas Poussin: A Critical Catalogue, London 1966
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1993National Gallery, 'Pictures Cleaned and Restored in the Conservation Department of the National Gallery, October 1993 - September 1994', National Gallery Technical Bulletin, XVI, 1995
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1995H. Wine, 'Poussin Problems at the National Gallery', Apollo, 1995, pp. 25-8
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1996H. Keazor, 'A propos des sources littéraires et picturales de "La Peste d'Asdod" (1630-1631) par Nicolas Poussin', Revue du Louvre, I, 1996, pp. 62-9
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2001Wine, Humphrey, National Gallery Catalogues: The Seventeenth Century French Paintings, London 2001
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2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
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2005G.A. Bailey et al., Hope and Healing: Painting in Italy in a Time of Plague 1500-1800 (exh. cat. Worcester Art Museum, 3 April - 25 September 2005), Worcester MA 2005
About this record
If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.