Lot leaving Sodom

The angels urge Lot to abandon Sodom, about to be destroyed as God’s punishment for the immorality of its inhabitants (Genesis 19:15). He is shown kneeling piously, with his wife sitting behind ready to go, and their approaching daughters can be seen against the background of the city’s monumental architecture. The theatricality of this painting is built up by the elaborate scenery, especially the expressive pose and gesture of Lot, the only righteous man that God (Yahweh) wants to save together with his family. The painter chose a less frequently depicted scene in the story of Lot, preceding the more popular episodes with the wife turned into a pillar of salt or his daughters seducing their drunk father. The painting has a clear composition and sharp drawing, typical of the style of academics from Bologna, as well as the Venetian luminosity of colour and ease of painting, which Gionima learnt from Giuseppe Maria Crespi, being his most important pupil (from 1719) and then collaborator. The artist, originating from a family of Venetian and Padovan painters, studied in Bologna where he developed the characteristic features of his style.
[Beata Lejman]

keywords: angel  |  Lot (Bible)  |  painting (fine arts)  |  Italian painting  |  Sodom (Bible)  |  Old Testament (Bible)  |  biblical themes  |  religious themes