Attributed to Frans Floris de Vriendt

Attributed to FRANS FLORIS DE VRIENDT (Antwerp, 1517-1570).
"Moses makes the water gush forth".
Oil on panel. Cradled.
Attached report of Don Ignacio Panicello.
Provenance: Fernando María de Constantinopla Fernández de Córdoba y Pérez de Barradas, XIV Duke of Lerma.
Measurements: 103 x 132 cm; 120 x 148,5 cm (frame).
This painting is a paradigmatic example of Flemish Mannerism in its moment of full maturity, in which the Nordic tradition converges with the Italianizing aspirations that marked the artistic renovation of Antwerp during the 16th century. Probably trained with Pieter Coecke van Aelst and Lambert Lombard, Floris embodies the figure of the pictor doctus, capable of integrating classical erudition, anatomical mastery and compositional complexity in a visual narrative of great intensity.
The theme depicted, taken from the biblical story of the Exodus, shows the moment when Moses, obeying the divine command, makes water flow from the rock to satisfy the people of Israel in the desert. However, far from a static or merely devotional reading, Floris articulates the scene as a vast human theater, where the miracle unfolds through a multitude of moving bodies. The composition is organized in dynamic diagonals that guide the gaze from the foreground, with robust and sculptural figures that recall the influence of Michelangelo. The accumulation of figures, in varied and expressive attitudes, reveals an interest in anatomy and bodily tension that places the work in the orbit of international Mannerism.
From the stylistic point of view, the painting stands out for its warm and contrasting colors, with a predominance of reds, ochers and earth tones that reinforce the dramatic atmosphere of the episode. The selective lighting models the volumes and emphasizes the gestures, while the treatment of the landscape, abrupt, almost scenographic, contributes to intensify the extraordinary character of the event. The pictorial workmanship reaches moments of great refinement in the faces and in the representation of the female and children's bodies.
The exceptional nature of this work lies both in its compositional ambition and in its ability to synthesize different artistic traditions. Floris not only adapts Italian models to the Flemish context, but transforms them into a language of his own, characterized by monumentality, expressiveness and a certain narrative theatricality. This painting also illustrates the prestige achieved by the artist in his time, recognized by contemporaries and collectors as one of the leading painters of the Netherlands, a condition that explains his inclusion in repertoires such as the Pictorum aliquot celebrium Germaniae Inferioris effigies and his subsequent appreciation by figures of the stature of Peter Paul Rubens.