Plagues of Egypt - Artistic Representation

Artistic Representation

In visual art, the plagues have generally been reserved for works in series, especially engravings. Still, relatively few depictions in art emerged compared to other religious themes. The plagues became more common subjects in the 19th century, with John Martin and Joseph Turner producing notable canvases. This trend probably reflected a Romantic attraction to landscape and nature painting, for which the plagues were suited, a Gothic attraction to morbid stories, and a rise in Orientalism, wherein exotic Egyptian themes found currency. Given the importance of noble patronage throughout Western art history, the plagues may have found consistent disfavor because the stories emphasize the limits of a monarch's power, and images of lice, locusts, darkness, and boils were ill-suited for decoration in palaces and churches.

Perhaps the most successful artistic representation of the plagues is Handel's oratorio "Israel in Egypt" which, like his perennial favorite, Messiah, takes a libretto entirely from scripture. The work was especially popular in the 19th century because of its numerous choruses, generally one for each plague, and its playful musical depiction of the plagues. For example, the plague of frogs is a light aria for alto depicting frog's jumping in the violins, and the plague of flies/lice is a light chorus with fast scurrying runs in the violins.