The Burning Bush: tapestry and drawing

Le Buisson ardent
collection du Mobilier national
© Ph.Sébert

You are now in front of the tapestry titled The Burning Bush.
Made of wool and silk enhanced with gold, it was woven on a high-warp loom at the Manufacture des Gobelins in 1685, by the workshops of Jean Jans the Younger, after the painting by Charles Le Brun.
Exceptionally, the tapestry is shown to you here with a preparatory drawing by Nicolas Poussin, made for a painting on the same theme. The drawing is to the right of the tapestry on the picture rail of the central block. 
   
Nicolas Poussin’s drawing dates from 1641. It is made in pen, brown ink and brown wash done over in drypoint. This study was made for an overmantel commissioned from Poussin by Cardinal Richelieu. The spontaneity of the line suggests that this is a first rough sketch, with a squaring proposed to the cardinal.
The two works of art have in common the theme which they illustrate. They depict a passage from the Book of Exodus, the revelation of God to Moses.
Moses, having taken refuge in the Sinai desert, is tending his flock of sheep when he sees a bush that is burning without being consumed. Intrigued, he approaches and hears the voice of God coming from the bush. God entrusts Moses with a mission. He must ask Pharaoh to free the Hebrew people so that he can lead them to the Promised Land. God then orders Moses to throw his staff to the ground, which immediately transforms into a serpent, thus proving His greatness.
In Le Brun’s work, the composition goes straight to the essence: the flaming foliage of the bush opens onto the face of God, represented as an old man with a white beard. At the foot of the bush, Moses is looking at his staff which has just turned into a serpent, with a mixture of surprise and fear. Charles Le Brun thus places the emphasis on the divine manifestation and the reaction of Moses.