Victory, O Lord!
Sir John Everett Millais Bt PRA (1829-96)
1870
Oil on canvas
Corporation of Manchester
Source: Life of Millais, facing II, 20.
Scanned image and text by George P. Landow
This painting of Moses' two brothers, Aaron & Hur, holding up his arms in prayer during battle with the Amalekites, may be another late example of the artist's use of biblical typology. According to Exodus, as long as Moses raised his arms in prayer the Israelites prevailed, but as soon as he grew tired and lowered them the battle went against them. Exodus 17:12 relates: "But Moses' hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun." According to some Victorian interpreters of the Bible, this event, which put Moses under terrible strain since the battle lasted all day, prefigured Christ's crucifixion.
Holman Hunt used the same pose in The Sahdow of Death (1869-73) to show Jesus at prayer after a hard day's labor.
References
Millais, John Guile. The Life and Letters of John Everett Millais, President of the Royal Academy. 2 vols. New York: Frederick A. Stokes, 1899.
Last modified 8 November 2002