Elijah and the Widow of Zarephath

1630 · Private collection

religious

Elijah was a Hebrew prophet, a forceful character who vigorously opposed the cult of Baal among the Israelites. During a prolonged drought Elijah went to dwell by the brook Cherith which still ran. But the brook dried up so Elijah moved on to the city of Zarephath where he met a widow gathering sticks who gave him food and drink.

About the Artist

Bartholomeus Breenbergh

1598 – 1657

Dutch painter, with Poelenburgh the leading pioneer of the taste for Italianate landscapes in the Netherlands. Breenbergh spent most of the 1620s in Italy and thereafter worked in Amsterdam. His style as a painter is very similar to Poelenburgh's, his biblical and mythological characters set in well-balanced views of the Roman Campagna, often complete with classical ruins. His drawings are much fresher and bolder, and have often passed under the name of Claude, as is the case with two examples in Christ Church, Oxford. Late in his career Breenbergh turned to figure painting.

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