The Miracle at the Grave of Elisha

The subject (also called The Grave of Eliseus, an alternative name for the Prophet Elisha) is taken from 2 Kings 13:20-21, which relates that: 'And Elisha died, and they buried him. And the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year. And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a band of men; and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha: and when the man was let down, and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet.'

Little is known about the artist: the source for most details of his life is Van Buchel's Res Picturiae, although Van Mander in his Schilder-boek refers to Nagel as residing in The Hague, where he was in 1600 accepted into the Guild of Saint Luke. He was influenced by the work of Cornelis Molenaer, and, as can be seen in the present work, was particularly skilled in his rendition of figures (although Van Buchel also notes Nagel's spirited and rapid handling, facility for composition and elegance of palette). Such characteristics are evident in this painting, which compares closely stylistically to his few known works: for example the Magdalen in the Frans Halsmuseum, Haarlem (signed and dated 1592), or the drawing of The Fall of Man in the Albertina, Vienna, which share the same, somewhat mannerist technique.