The Women of Exodus: Zipporah
John Overbeck was a German artist and a key part of the Nazarene art movement that aimed at reviving the spiritual and moral flavor of earlier European art, considering the art of the late Renaissance to be vulgar and pagan. His movement desired a simpler, more devotional artistic expression. In this painting, Moses tenderly holds Zipporah over the rocky terrain while her father, Jethro, watches and shows the way. Overbeck's Moses is youthful and dressed in the highly detailed and ornate dress of a Renaissance knight, perhaps to paint him as chivalrous. Zipporah is slight in appearance next to Moses, and lovingly cradles his shoulders. It is difficult to ascertain whether Moses's gaze is directed toward Zipporah or toward the heavens.