FEUERBACH, Anselm Friedrich
(b. 1829, Speyer, d.1880, Venezia)

Miriam

1862
Oil on canvas, 102 x 81 cm
Nationalgalerie, Berlin

Feuerbach's imposing Italian model, Anna Risi, the wife of a Roman shoemaker, is found in many of his paintings. Her severe beauty suggests both a dominatrix and a nanny. In Miriam, she poses as Moses' sister, striking a tambourine to celebrate the safe crossing of the Red Sea.