PIOLA, Domenico
(b. 1627, Genova, d. 1703, Genova)

Job and His Children

c. 1650
Oil on canvas, 176 x 220 cm
Museo de Bellas Artes, Bilbao

In this painting Piola depicts a complex scene characterised by a marked contrast of light and shade. The figure of Job, who stands on the left and raises his eyes to beg for mercy before the harsh divine trials, balances the composition, crisscrossed by diagonal lines formed by the dead bodies of his children and the architectural elements of the house in ruins. Equally clear is the painter's skill in foreshortening the figure of the dead son in the foreground.