The Submersion of Pharoah's Army in the Red Sea c. 1514 - 1515

Titian produced "The Submersion of Pharaoh's Army in the Red Sea" using engraving. The eye is immediately drawn to the chaotic lines depicting the churning sea, where the once-mighty army is now a disorganized mass of men and horses swallowed by the relentless waves. This scene of divine retribution unfolds in a composition rigidly divided into three horizontal layers. The bottom layer is filled with the tumult of the drowning army. The middle layer, with the relentless forward movement of the sea. The top layer, with the relative calm of the sky, the city of Cairo and the cliff by the sea. Titian uses the formal device of linear perspective, which creates both a sense of depth but also moral and historical perspective. The formal composition of the artwork emphasizes a cosmic order where hubris is punished, and faith is rewarded. The lines of the engraving carve out not just an image, but a moral lesson etched in ink and paper, reminding us of the eternal struggle between order and chaos, faith and doubt.