Melchisedek blesses Abram

Simeon Solomon

Wood engraving by the Dalziels [1862].

6 7/8 x 5¼ inches

>Art Pictures from the Old Testament, p.11.

A scene from Genesis, xiv: 18–20 in which the ‘priest-king’ blesses Abram. The illustration combines grandeur with tenderness, especially in the small detail of the servant-child who raises the arm of the feeble king. The antiquarian detail is united, characteristically, with an expressionistic compression of space, giving the event considerable dramatic impact.

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Scanned image and text by Simon Cooke.

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