II. Hagar and Ishmael. Christian Koehler (Werben, Germany, b. 1809; d. 1861).
This picture is strong and expressive rather than attractive. The depth of the greenish-blue sky and the barrenness of the indicated landscape give an intensity to the desolateness of the mother, clasping the form of her sturdy and unconscious little outcast son. The original painting is now in the Civic Gallery, at Düsseldorf, on the Rhine. It was painted at Leinwald in 1843.
III. Rebekah. Charles Landelle (Laval, France, b. 1815).
This is one of those charming subjects which the enterprise and graceful art of the French have brought from the Orient. The original painting (1866) is entitled "Femme Fellah," and represents one of the women of the Nubian tribe of Fellahs, resting at the well before taking up the earthen jar which she has just filled with water. This lovely face and figure may well be used to illustrate the maidenly grace of "Rebekah at the Fountain."
IV. Leah and Rachel. Jean François Portaëls (Vilvorde, Belgium, b. 1820).
Leah the "tender-eyed" became the wife of Jacob seven years before he attained the hand of his chosen love, Rachel the "beautiful." And with this, the picture must tell its own story.
V. Miriam and Moses. Paul Delaroche (France, b. 1797; d. 1856).
This is one of the most famous designs of one of the most fertile artists of France. The original painting has been often engraved, but its freshness and beauty are best shown by reproducing its soft and delicate coloring. The careful sister, watching through the rushes, and the indistinct form of the mother on the bank above, are in exquisite contrast to the quietude of the babe in his basket on the waters of the placid Nile.
VI. Deborah. Charles Landelle (Laval, France, b. 1815).