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Lot Essay
The story of the prophet and miracle-worker Elijah appears in the Old Testament Book of Kings, describing his defence of God against the Canaanite deity Baal. This impressive picture represents the dramatic culmination of his encounter with Ahaziah of Israel, the son of the wicked king Ahab and his notorious wife Jezebel. Seriously injured after a fall, Ahaziah sent his messengers to ask priests of Baalzebub in Ekron (which was outside the kingdom of Israel) whether he would survive. Encountering Elijah on their journey, he told them to return carrying the message given to him by an angel: ‘Is it not because there is not a God in Israel, that thou sendest to inquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron? Therefore thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die’ (2 Kings, 1:6). Guessing that Elijah had sent this message, Ahaziah sent three groups of soldiers to arrest the prophet. The first two were destroyed by fire, called from Heaven to consume them by Elijah. The leader of the third contingent asked for mercy from Elijah’s retribution and were allowed to accompany him back to Ahaziah where he delivered his prophecy in person.
After training under Gregorio Lazzarini and, later, Sebastiano Ricci, Gaspare Diziani was called to work at the Saxon court in Dresden and in Munich in 1717, where he completed a suite of decorative pictures, representing the Four Continents for the Residenz at Munich (destroyed, World War II). Returning to Venice in 1720 and based in the Veneto, he pursued a diverse and prolific career, receiving a number of commissions for altarpieces, mural decorations and easel pictures. This large-sale work is dynamically composed with Elijah raised above the soldiers of Ahaziah, who are illuminated strongly in the centre of the canvas as the Heavenly fires rain down from the sky. The complex figural group of horses and bodies is highly reminiscent of works by Diziani’s master, Sebastiano Ricci, like his Battle of the Lapiths and Centaurs of circa 1707 (Atlanta, High Museum of Art, inv. no. 58.55).
After training under Gregorio Lazzarini and, later, Sebastiano Ricci, Gaspare Diziani was called to work at the Saxon court in Dresden and in Munich in 1717, where he completed a suite of decorative pictures, representing the Four Continents for the Residenz at Munich (destroyed, World War II). Returning to Venice in 1720 and based in the Veneto, he pursued a diverse and prolific career, receiving a number of commissions for altarpieces, mural decorations and easel pictures. This large-sale work is dynamically composed with Elijah raised above the soldiers of Ahaziah, who are illuminated strongly in the centre of the canvas as the Heavenly fires rain down from the sky. The complex figural group of horses and bodies is highly reminiscent of works by Diziani’s master, Sebastiano Ricci, like his Battle of the Lapiths and Centaurs of circa 1707 (Atlanta, High Museum of Art, inv. no. 58.55).