The Fifth Plague of Egypt: Cattle (Exodus 9:1-6)

Description This page from Walters manuscript W.106 depicts a scene from Exodus, in which God rained plagues upon Egypt. In the fifth plague, one of the most severe, all of the Egyptians' cattle died. Here Moses, horned (a sign of his encounter with divinity), repeats his plea to Pharaoh to let the Israelites go, but still he refuses.

Provenance Léon Gruel, Paris [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, June 6, 1903, by purchase [see The Diaries of George Lucas]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Inscriptions [Translation] The fifth was the death of the animals; [Transliteration] la quinte fu murine de bestes.

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters, 1903