The Plague at Ashdod

Image credit: The National Gallery, London

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This dramatic scene of divine punishment is described in the Old Testament. The Philistines are stricken with plague in their city of Ashdod because they have stolen the Ark of the Covenant from the Israelites and placed it in their pagan temple. You can see the decorated golden casket of the Ark between the pillars of the temple. People look around in horror at their dead and dying companions. One man leans over the corpses of his wife and child and covers his nose to avoid the stench. Rats scurry towards the bodies. The broken statue of their deity, Dagon, and the tumbled down stone column further convey the Philistines' downfall.

This picture is a copy by the Italian artist Angelo Caroselli of an original work by Nicolas Poussin, in the Louvre, Paris.

The National Gallery, London

London

Title

The Plague at Ashdod

Date

1631

Medium

Oil on canvas

Measurements

H 129 x W 204.5 cm

Accession number

NG165

Acquisition method

Presented by the Duke of Northumberland, 1838

Work type

Painting

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