The Submersion of Pharaoh's Army in the Red Sea

The Submersion of Pharaoh's Army in the Red Sea, 1514–15, printed 1549. Titian (Italian, c. 1488–1576), Domenico dalle Greche (Italian, 1503–1603). Woodcut; unframed: 41.5 x 55.3 cm (16 5/16 x 21 3/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund, 1952.296.5

Created in 1514 during the Renaissance period, this work belongs firmly within the daily life tradition. Titian worked at a moment when the rivalry between Catholic Baroque drama and Protestant restraint reshaped what a painting could mean. Every gesture, fabric, and gleam of light was decoded by contemporary viewers like a private language.

Working in woodcut at Unframed: 41.5 x 55.3 cm (16 5/16 x 21 3/4 in.), Titian constructs depth through value contrast rather than outline, letting figures emerge from darkness the way they would under candlelight or through a shuttered window.

Look closely and the painting opens up. Objects you might pass over — a folded letter, a half-drawn curtain, the angle of a glance — were placed to be read. The apparent casualness is staged — objects and gestures are arranged to read as a moment caught rather than composed.

Housed at Cleveland Museum of Art in Cleveland, the painting has passed through the hands of collectors, dealers, and institutions before reaching public view — a provenance that is itself part of the object's story.

“A silence so complete it becomes its own witness.”